World shares rise buoyed by hopes for more trade deal after US-Japan tariff pact

Manila(Philippines), Jul 24 (AP) World shares rose Thursday, buoyed by optimism that the US-Japan tariff agreement announced a day earlier will be followed by more trade deals.
    Later Thursday, the European Central Bank was expected to hold off on making another interest rate cut as it waits to measure the size of any economic blow from higher US tariffs.
    US President Donald Trump has sent the EU a letter laying out a 30 per cent tariff rate, but European trade officials are hoping to haggle that down to as low as 10 per cent.
    Separately, European leaders called for concrete progress in addressing the bloc's yawning trade deficit with China at a summit with President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital on Thursday.
    In early European trading, Germany's DAX rose 0.8 per cent to 24,430.74. In Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.2 per cent to 7,862.52, while Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 1 per cent to 9,150.50.
    The future for S&P 500 added less than 0.1 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 per cent.
    Trump has proposed stiff taxes on imports from around the world, which carry the double-edged risk of driving up inflation while slowing economies. But many of his tariffs are on pause, giving time to reach deals with other countries that could lower the tax rates. Trump also announced trade agreements with the Philippines and Indonesia this week.
    Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.6 per cent to 41,826.34. It had jumped 3.5 per cent a day earlier on enthusiasm over the trade deal with Washington, which would raise US import duties on most exports from Japan to 15 per cent from 2.5 per cent, instead of the 25 per cent Trump had threatened to impose.
    The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 per cent to 3,605.73, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.5 per cent to 25,667.18.
    South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 per cent to 3,190.45, shedding some of its earlier gains, after central bank data showed Thursday that the country's economy expanded at a 0.6 per cent annual rate in the last quarter, above expectations thanks to robust private consumption and exports.
    Australia's S&P ASX 200 slid 0.3 per cent to 8,709.40. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.2 per cent while India's BSE Sensex shed 0.7 per cent.
    “Asian equities caught another updraft, rising for a sixth straight session, as whispers of broader trade accords scattered across the tape like migrating birds sensing the storm has passed,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary.
    “With the ink barely dry on the US-Japan tariff truce — inked at a palatable 15 per cent — traders are already scanning the horizon for the next deal to surface. Europe? Maybe. India? China? Everyone? Perhaps. But the mood is pure Electric Avenue,” he added.
    The Nomura Group, in a research report, said the tariff rates set by the US for Indonesia and the Philippines, at 19 per cent, “are fairly high and therefore pose downside risks to their respective growth outlooks.” It estimated the direct effects could reduce GDP growth by 0.2 percentage point in Indonesia and 0.4 percentage point in the Philippines.
    Still, most markets across the region advanced.
    On Wednesday, US stocks set more records following a trade deal between the world's No. 1 and No. 4 economies, one that would lower proposed tariffs on Japanese imports coming to the United States.
    The S&P 500 added 0.8 per cent to its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 507 points, or 1.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6 per cent to hit its own record.
    So far, the US economy has seemed to hold up OK despite the pressures on it. And tariffs already in place may be having less of an effect than expected, at least when it comes to the prices that US households are paying at the moment.
    In other dealings on Thursday, US benchmark crude oil added 90 cents to USD 66.15 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 84 cents to USD 69.35 per barrel.
    The US dollar climbed to 146.60 Japanese yen from 146.51 yen. The euro slid to USD 1.1751 from USD 1.1777. (AP)
    
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)