Stocks up, yen slips as Xi calms US-China trade fears

NEW YORK: Global equity markets rose for the fifth session in six and the Japanese yen fell on Tuesday as Chinese President Xi Jinping's promise to cut import tariffs eased investor concerns about an escalating U.S.-China trade row.

Xi, speaking at a forum, vowed to open China's economy further, protect intellectual property of foreign firms and he criticized a "Cold War mentality" as obsolete, in his first public comments since the trade dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration erupted.

Later in the trading session in New York, Trump said via Twitter that he was "Very thankful for President Xi of China's kind words regarding tariffs and automobile barriers."

Xi's comments prompted a largely positive reaction in financial markets, which have been rattled on fears that tit-for-tat U.S.-China tariffs will escalate into a full-scale trade war that would threaten global growth.

"What you are seeing in the market is an alleviation of trade war fears and people trying to get back in and reposition themselves for what they hope - no trade war," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 435.03 points, or 1.81 percent, to 24,414.13, the S&P 500 gained 43.22 points, or 1.65 percent, to 2,656.38 and the Nasdaq Composite  added 130.92 points, or 1.88 percent, to 7,081.27.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.87 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe  gained 1.36 percent.

Emerging market stocks rose 1.06 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 1.27 percent higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.54 percent.

Oil markets rose sharply on hopes that the trade dispute may be resolved without greater damage to the global economy.

"This has been another huge day," said Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Futures in Chicago. "There's soothing trade war fears, geopolitics, and a weaker dollar at play."

U.S. crude rose 3.66 percent to $65.74 per barrel and Brent was last at $71.22, up 3.74 percent on the day.

Xi's comments also lifted the U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen.

"The main driver was the speech by China's President overnight that helped to calm some concerns about a looming trade war," said Omer Esiner, chief market strategist with Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

The Japanese yen weakened 0.38 percent versus the greenback at 107.19 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.4181, up 0.37 percent on the day.

The dollar index fell 0.26 percent, with the euro  up 0.31 percent to $1.2357.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 4/32 in price to yield 2.7991 percent, from 2.786 percent late on Monday.

The 30-year bond last /32 in price to yield 3.0174 percent, from 3.017 percent late on Monday.

RUSSIA FALLS FURTHER

Russian assets extended Monday's slide as investors digested the new round of U.S. sanctions targeting the country's tycoons. The rouble plunged 3.9 percent against the dollar and touched 63.925 per dollar, its lowest since late 2016.

Stocks in Moscow calculated in U.S. dollars fell as much as 4.8 percent after dropping more than 11 percent on Monday, but shaved most of Tuesday's loss to end down 0.4 percent.

Shares of Rusal, the aluminum giant highlighted prominently in the sanctions alongside its boss Oleg Deripaska, fell a further 8.7 percent in Hong Kong after slumping 50 percent on Monday.