China smartphone shipments slumped in June on inventory overhang: Jefferies
* Investors still stick to hopes of eventual compromise
* Yen softens on stimulus, pound slips on opinion polls
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Global shares ticked up on Monday
and oil rebounded after a big fall late last week, as investors
clung to hopes Beijing and Washington could reach a compromise
in trade talks although increasing tensions over Hong Kong
unsettled market confidence.
MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.17%, reclaiming some of its
one-percent-plus loss on Friday while Japan's Nikkei .N225
rose 0.85%.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 gained 0.29% to edge near their
record highs after a dip in a truncated U.S. session on Friday
due to Thanksgiving holiday.
MSCI's broadest gauge of world shares, all-country world
index .MIWD00000PUS , ticked up 0.07% and stood within reach of
its all-time peak hit in January 2018.
While U.S. legislation supporting Hong Kong protesters last
week hit optimism of a U.S.-China trade deal, investors are
nonetheless holding the broad view that a further escalation in
the trade war can be avoided.
"It looks a bit difficult for two countries' leaders to
shake hands and sign a deal this month. What is more likely is
to essentially kick the can, with China buying more U.S. farm
products while the U.S. postpones its next tariffs," said
Hiroyuki Ueno, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset
Management.
"Markets will consider such an arrangement as a de facto
deal whether they officially sign it or not," he said.
Investors have long thought that the United States will
avoid imposing an additional 15% tariff on about $156 billion of
Chinese products on Dec. 15 after signing a deal with China.
The two countries have been so far unable to bridge the gap
over existing tariffs on Chinese goods, with Beijing demanding
scrapping them as a part of any trade deal. A trade deal between United States and China was now
"stalled because of Hong Kong legislation", news website Axios
reported on Sunday, citing a source close to U.S. President
Donald Trump's negotiating team. China's Foreign Ministry last week lambasted U.S.
legislation signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday
backing protesters in Hong Kong as a serious interference in
Chinese affairs.
In the currency market the yen weakened, helped also by
expectations that Japan could put together a large-scale fiscal
spending package to bolster its economy. Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.25% to 109.675 yen
JPY= , a six-month high.
The euro stood little changed at $1.10215 EUR= , bouncing
back from seven-week low of $1.0981 hit in U.S. trade.
The British pound slipped 0.25% to $1.2909 GBP=D4 after
opinion polls during the weekend showed Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's Conservative Party saw its lead over the opposition
Labour Party narrow. Oil prices bounced back a tad after a big slump on Friday on
concerns about fresh trade tensions and record high U.S. crude
production.
The market drew some support from expectations that OPEC and
its allies are likely to extend existing oil output cuts when
they meet this week , with non-OPEC oil producer Russia
supporting Saudi Arabia's push for stable oil prices amid the
listing of state oil giant Saudi Aramco.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 1.16% to $61.19 a barrel
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained
1.41% to $55.95 per barrel.
(Editing by Sam Holmes)