Xi strikes conciliatory note in Boao address
Though he wasn’t exactly buddy-buddy with Trump, President Xi Jinping’s speech at the Boao Forum has seemingly convinced investors that the US and China are dialling back their trade war rhetoric.
Now, Xi still threw plenty of shade at the Orange Menace, calling on other countries to ‘reject power politics’ and embrace openness lest they be ‘assigned to the dustbin of history’. Yet it was his comments on import tariffs, which he said would be ‘significantly’ lower for autos, and his promise that the country would do more to enforce intellectual property rights of international firms, ostensibly a key concern for Trump, that really caught the ear of the markets.
The European indices leapt higher after the bell, propelled to a series of fresh multi-week peaks off the back of Xi’s statement. The FTSE jumped half a percent, crossing 7200 to hit its best level in effectively a month. As ever the DAX and CAC were even more energetic; the German bourse bounced 150 points to tickle 12400 for the first time since mid-March, while its French counterpart was up 0.7% and a handful of points away from 5300.
Crucially the Dow Jones is also set to get in on this Xi-swing later today. Though it’s still early doors, the future are suggesting a 350 point surge once the bell rings on Wall Street, a move that would lift the Dow back to the top of its recent 23500 to 24500 trading bracket. Now all Trump needs to do is avoid making any inflammatory, gains-derailing comments of his own.
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