Asian stocks gain as US-China trade talks progress
Asian shares post gains, as news of US-China trade talk progression lifts optimism
Investor sentiment was lifted on Friday after US officials said China had made proposals in trade talks with the US on a range of issues. US officials also said that progress has gone further than it has before, including talks on forced technology transfer.
It comes after US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday he had a "productive working dinner" the previous night in Beijing, kicking off a day of talks aimed at resolving the trade dispute.
Mnuchin is set to meet with Chinese vice Premier Liu in Washington next week, where the two will resume talks.
Asian shares
Asian shares posted narrow gains on Friday, with the S&P 500 moving towards its biggest quarterly gain since 2009
Global yields moved higher after a long slump on worries about the global economic outlook.
S&P 500 posts biggest quarterly gain
The S&P 500 has gained 12.3% in the quarter so far, marking its best quarterly gain since 2009, if the gains maintain.
On Thursday the S&P 500 gained 0.36%, while the Nasdaq added 0.34%.
Global economic worries
Global economic worries are still a concern in markets, as data released on Thursday showed US economic growth was slower than expected in the fourth quarter.
US GDP growth revised down to 2.2% from an earlier reading of 2.6%.
10-year US bonds edged up 2.391%, climbing from 15-month lows. It comes after the Fed’s dovish tone last week, which had investors worried about the dire global economic outlook.
Investors were on high-alert after the yield on the 10-year note fell below the three-month US treasury yield, last Friday. Concerns were raised over the inversion of the yield curve, which could be an indicator of a recession.
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