Global stocks gain as US eases Huawei restrictions

Stock markets gained on Tuesday, with chipmakers and companies exposed to Asia among the best performers, after Washington temporarily eased trade restrictions imposed last week on China’s Huawei.

In Europe, the broader Euro STOXX 600 climbed 0.6%, extending gains earlier in the trading session, with Germany’s DAX rising 1.1%, while France’s CAC 40 added 0.6%.

At the close, China’s Shanghai Composite index was up 1.23%, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended 1.35% higher.

US President Donald Trump’s government added Huawei to a trade blacklist last week, escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

But Washington then allowed Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. to purchase US-made goods to maintain existing networks and provide software updates to existing Huawei handsets until 19 August.

Chipmakers AMS, STMicroelectronics and Germany’s Infineon added between 2% and 6%, while the tech sector rose 1.6% after losing almost 3% on Monday.

In London, heavyweights HSBC, Prudential and Standard Chartered boosted the blue-chip index as markets rose on hopes of an easing in the trade tensions.

In Asia, gains in heavyweight Samsung Electronics helped South Korea’s KOSPI stock index close up 0.3%.

The MSCI index of world shares, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was up 0.1% after losses in the two previous days.

In Germany, Daimler gained 1.1%, getting an additional boost after German newspaper Handelsblatt reported the company was looking to cut administration costs by 20%. Daimler declined to comment.

Italy’s biggest phone group Telecom Italia led gainers on the STOXX 600, rising 1.9%, after posting first-quarter earnings in line with expectations and confirming its guidance for the next three years.

Markets now await Wednesday’s release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s 1 May meeting, looking for signals on future interest rates after Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday that it was premature to ascertain the impact of trade and tariffs on the trajectory of monetary policy.

Last modified on Thursday, 23 May 2019 11:06