LONDON: World shares touched a 21-month high on Monday on signs that the United States and China could soon put an end to a damaging trade war as well as indications that the world may yet dodge an economic recession.
The key date in focus is Dec. 15, when new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports from toys to electronics are due to kick in. Earlier, the positive mood on trade had sent Asian stocks surging, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 1.2per cent. "The macro environment is still resilient, stabilized and maybe even showing signs of improvement - and that is a net positive for risky assets," said Olivier Marciot, senior portfolio manager at Unigestion.
"Expectations were low going into earnings, and things are getting better than expected," Marciot said.