Asian equities slightly buoyed by renewed trade optimism
Overnight headlines that US and China are set for face-to-face talks next week has given Asian stocks a bit of a boost today, with gains more evident among Chinese equities. Japanese stocks end the day higher in general though earlier gains have eased slightly.
The Hang Seng is up by 0.7% while the Shanghai Composite is up by 0.8% currently as investors take the news in good faith that there may be progress made as Lighthizer and Mnuchin head to Shanghai next Monday.
US futures are more subdued after gains yesterday though, with E-minis down by 0.1% and Treasury yields are also holding slightly lower across the curve. As such, USD/JPY trades a tad lower at 108.15 with large expiries ($4.3 billion) rolling off at 108.00 also in focus.
