Global stocks rise after China hint at stimulus to support slowing economy

Global stocks edged higher on Tuesday following news that Chinese officials are looking at more stimulus to support its slowing economy and US President Donald Trump hinted that an end to the US-China trade war is imminent.

In China, the Shanghai CSI300 and Hong Kong Hang Seng Index both rallied 2% following the news, despite Chinese economic data showing that the country’s exports had not met expectations, falling to their lowest levels in two years in December.

US stocks rise led by Netflix

Wall Street saw similar gains on Tuesday, with Netflix leading the surge after announcing it plans implement an 18% price hike on its monthly subscription that helped its share price rise more than 6%.

US stocks overall benefitted from the news emanating out of China and Trump hinting at the possibility of bringing an end to the ongoing trade war, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both edging higher.

However, it wasn’t all good news for US equities, with JPMorgan Chase & Co suffering losses after its quarterly profit and sales figures failed to meet analysts’ expectations, which the bank blamed on weakness in bond trading.

European stocks see slight gains

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index saw slight gains, climbing 0.4%, despite Germany and other major economies in the eurozone releasing economic data that raised concerns about the bloc falling into a recession.

In Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, reported its weakest growth figures in five years, leading to the euro decline against the dollar, down 0.5% to $1.1417.

Meanwhile, the pound lost gains it made after British prime minister Theresa May announced that no Brexit is increasingly looking more likely that a no deal scenario unfolding ahead of parliamentary vote on her withdrawal agreement with the EU on Tuesday evening. Sterling fell 0.61% against the dollar to $1.2785