(Updates to midafternoon in U.S. markets)
* Stocks rebound after tough Asian session
* Offshore yuan hits record low before partial recovery
* Gold holds gains while yen falls
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A global gauge of equities
edged higher on Monday and the dollar rebounded after U.S.
President Donald Trump said Chinese officials had contacted
Washington about resuming trade negotiations, restoring some
equilibrium following signs of escalation in the U.S.-China
trade dispute that had roiled markets earlier in the day.
Trump's comments after the G7 summit of world leaders in
France followed Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's remarks that China
was willing to resolve the trade dispute through "calm"
negotiations. Beijing, however, declined to confirm that Chinese
officials had contacted their U.S. trade counterparts.
U.S. stocks rose upon the easing of rhetoric between
Washington and Beijing, while European stocks bounced off their
lows.
"The sentiment today is conciliatory. The president is
trying to walk back," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at
National Securities in New York.
"Whether or not he has a phone call with China doesn't
matter," Hogan added. "The point is that he is attempting to
keep the September meeting scheduled and get back to the
negotiating bit."
The dollar index .DXY also reversed course to trade
higher, last rising 0.4%. The Chinese yuan, which had fallen to
an 11-year low in the onshore market and hit a record low in the
offshore market, pared losses. In the offshore market, the
Chinese yuan CNH= was last down 0.5% at 7.1684 per dollar.
Asian equity markets had plummeted and European stocks had
appeared set to follow suit after China and the United States
announced further tariffs on each other's exports on Friday.
Trump announced an additional duty on some $550 billion of
targeted Chinese goods, following the U.S. market close, hours
after China unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of
U.S. goods. Another development at the G7 summit pressured oil prices,
as French President Emmanuel Macron said preparations were under
way for a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and
Trump in the coming weeks to find a solution to their nuclear
standoff. The prospect of a deal between Washington and Tehran
bolstered the outlook for increased supply of Iranian crude.
U.S. crude CLcv1 settled 53 cents lower, or 0.98%, at
$53.64 a barrel, while Brent LCOcv1 settled 64 cents lower, or
1.08%, at $58.70 a barrel.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
211.74 points, or 0.83%, to 25,840.64, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
24.13 points, or 0.85%, to 2,871.24 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 82.22 points, or 1.06%, to 7,833.98.
The MSCI All-Country World Index .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.14%.
Despite the rise in equities, some market participants
remained cautious on the extent of progress in U.S.-China trade
relations.
"This rally today is very tentative," said Keith Lerner,
chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services in
Atlanta. "People don't really know what the true story is."
Even so, U.S. 10-year Treasury yields edged higher after
having fallen to a three-year low earlier, while spot gold
XAU= was little changed at $1,527.20 an ounce, easing from a
six-year peak. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR last fell 6/32
in price to yield 1.5452%, from 1.527% late on Friday. The yield
curve between two-year and 10-year Treasuries inverted as an
upcoming auction of two-year notes on Tuesday gave a further
boost to shorter-dated yields. The safe-haven Japanese yen JPY= fell 0.7% to 106.14
against the dollar after having rallied to a seven-month high of
104.46 yen per dollar.