Stocks Climb After Kudlow Talks Up Trade Progress: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- European and Asian stocks climbed alongside U.S. equity futures on Friday after a senior American official signaled progress on a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies. Treasuries slipped with the yen and gold retreated.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index opened solidly higher as every major national gauge in the region advanced. Contracts for all three main U.S. benchmarks were also in the green after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said an agreement is “coming down to the short strokes.” Equities rose in Seoul, Tokyo and Sydney but fell in Shanghai. China’s yuan advanced against the dollar.Concerns about the chances of the U.S. and China completing a phase-one pact had propelled Treasuries earlier this week, and acted as a headwind to a stock rally that keeps taking American gauges to record highs. The S&P 500 closed slightly higher on Thursday, though a mixed bag of economic data also gave investors plenty to think about.Next up is Friday’s U.S. retail sales report, which will show whether consumption bounced back in October after a drop the previous month.Traders also have one eye on the unrest in Hong Kong, where concerns have fed through to money markets. Liquidity conditions in foreign-exchange are the tightest since the late 1990s.These are the main moves in markets:StocksFutures on the S&P 500 Index gained 0.2% as of 8:19 a.m. London time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.4%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.6%.CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.The euro was little changed at $1.1021.The British pound was little changed at $1.2876.The Japanese yen declined 0.1% to 108.51 per dollar.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.83%.Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.35%.Britain’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 0.711%.\--With assistance from Namitha Jagadeesh.To contact the reporter on this story: Samuel Potter in London at spotter33@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Cormac MullenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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