(Adds oil, gold settlement prices)
* Kudlow says U.S., China getting close to trade deal
* Stocks on Wall Street hit record highs, MSCI climbs
* Treasury, European government yields gain on trade hopes
* Risk assets gold, Japanese yen decline
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Crude prices and global
equities markets rose on Friday, with the major U.S. indexes
setting record highs, on renewed hopes that the United States
and China will reach a deal to de-escalate a 16-month trade war
that has crimped global growth.
Equity markets from Tokyo to the major bourses in Europe and
across the Americas gained on remarks by White House officials.
Economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday cited what he
called very constructive talks with Beijing about ending a
16-month trade war during an event at the Council on Foreign
Relations in Washington.
"We're getting close," Kudlow said.
Progress was being made on an agreement's details, according
to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who said the trade talks
were set to continue with a telephone call on Friday as both
sides seek to hammer out a "phase one" pact. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 0.67%, lifting it to within 1% of an all-time high set in
January 2018. Its emerging markets index .MSCIEF rose 0.66%.
In Europe, the pan-regional STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose
0.4% and the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading shares
adding 0.33%. On Wall Street, stocks rose across the board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 199.08 points,
or 0.72%, to 27,981.04. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 20.17 points,
or 0.65%, to 3,116.8 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
53.18 points, or 0.63%, to 8,532.20.
"The market rally has largely been driven by the positive
sentiment around the trade talks, obviously," said Rahul Shah,
chief executive of Ideal Asset Management in New York.
The fourth quarter, which tends to be the best period for
corporate earnings, will likely be supportive of stocks going
forward, but poor macroeconomic data or a political event could
trigger a downturn, Shah said.
"Since the market is hitting all-time highs and everybody's
comfortable, the risk of an event affecting the market
negatively is higher now because the market is an elevated
level," he said.
The S&P 500 has gained almost 25% year to date, and the
benchmark index is trading at 18 times forward earnings, or
higher than a historical norm of about 15.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with
healthcare .SPXHC leading the sectors higher, gaining 2.09%.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N and Pfizer PFE.N lifted the sector.
Gold prices and government debt prices fell as investors
leaned away from safe-haven assets on fresh hopes the United
States and China will de-escalate trade tensions.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled down 0.3% at $1,468.50 per
ounce. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR fell
5/32 in price to push yields up to 1.8342%. Germany's 10-year Bund yield traded at -0.332% DE10YT=RR .
Oil futures gained nearly 2%. Brent crude LCOc1 gained $1.02 to settle at $63.30 a
barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose 95 cents
to settle at $57.72 a barrel.
The Japanese yen and Swiss franc, both beneficiaries of a
flight to quality, weakened. The dollar index .DXY fell 0.18%, with the euro EUR= up
0.29% to $1.1053. The yen JPY= weakened 0.36% versus the
greenback at 108.82 per dollar.
GRAPHIC-Global assets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
GRAPHIC-World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
GRAPHIC-MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Emerging markets in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
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