Global stocks rise after listless Wall Street day

Joe McDonald, The Associated Press</span>
Published Tuesday, February 12, 2019 12:08AM EST
Last Updated Tuesday, February 12, 2019 5:07AM EST

BEIJING -- Global stocks rose Tuesday following a listless day on Wall Street as investors looked ahead to U.S.-Chinese trade talks.

In early trading, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 per cent to 7,153.12 and Germany's DAX gained 1.2 per cent to 11,141.98, while France's CAC 40 advanced 0.7 per cent to 5,051.09. On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were up 0.6 per cent.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin will lead a delegation to Beijing on Thursday for talks aimed at resolving a tariff war over American complaints about Chinese technology ambitions.

The dispute threatens to chill global economic growth. The talks are the last scheduled high-level meeting before an agreement by both sides to suspend further punitive action against each other's goods expires March 1.

"Investor sentiment remains cautious despite report suggesting that President Trump's advisers are discussing a potential summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next month," Zhu Haini of Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.

Traders also are watching negotiations in Washington aimed at averting another government shutdown. Democrats and the GOP disagree over how much to spend on President Donald Trump's promised border wall. A Friday midnight deadline is looming to prevent a second partial government shutdown.

ASIA'S DAY: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 2.6 per cent to 20,864.21 and the Shanghai Composite Exchange added 0.7 per cent to 2,671.89. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.1 per cent higher at 28,171.33 and Seoul's Kospi gained 0.4 per cent to 2,190.47. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 advanced 0.3 per cent to 6,079.10 and India's Sensex lost 0.2 per cent to 36,303.11. New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand rose while Singapore declined.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 28 cents to $52.69 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 31 cents on Monday to close at $52.41. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 33 cents in London to $61.84. It shed 59 cents the previous session to $61.51.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 110.58 yen from Monday's 110.36 yen. The euro declined to $1.1268 from $1.1279.

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