Stock markets rise before Trump-Kim summit

LONDON: Global equity markets rose Monday as traders brushed off a chaotic G7 meeting to focus instead on US President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Investors were also on tenterhooks ahead of this week’s European Central Bank and Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.

Stock prices mostly rose despite a contentious Group of Seven (G7) summit of leading economic powers in Canada which failed to end concerns of a global trade war, dealers said.

“The weekend G7 meeting in Canada didn’t disappoint those expecting a dysfunctional atmosphere,” said analysts at Charles Schwab.

“But any market impact over the fall-out appears muted in regards to the magnitude of the Singapore summit, as well as looming central bank decisions from the Big Three: the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan”.

Trump pulled out of endorsing a joint communique after the G7 meet finished on Saturday, accusing Canadian Prime Minister and summit chairman Justin Trudeau of dishonesty.

“Markets may be too complacent — but on the G7 split, investors think that a full-scale trade war will not take place. In my view, it is clearly a risk,” VTB Capital analyst Neil MacKinnon told AFP.

– Euro promise lifts Milan –

European equities won support after new Italian finance minister Giovanni Tria emphatically ruled out the nation exiting from the single currency, with the Milan stock market up ell over three percent.

“European markets are rallying mainly because investors are less concerned about Italy as the Italian finance minister has assured that the country is committed to bring its debt lower,” said Naeem Aslam, analyst at trading firm Think Markets.

William Hamlyn, investment analyst at Manulife Asset Management, told AFP that “markets are in a ‘risk on’ mode in Europe”.

But Capital Economics analyst Ingvild Borgen Gjerde warned that markets may be failing to take political risk seriously enough, partly because of encouraging signs on the state of the US economy.

“We think that the markets are complacent about the political outlook and don’t expect the good news on the US economy to last either,” she said.

Cryptocurrencies plunged after a hack on a South Korean exchange sparked fresh concerns about the safety of the digital units.

– Rate decisions coming up –

In Asia, the focus was squarely on Tuesday’s historic summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore, with Pyongyang’s nuclear programme top of the agenda.

“Barring any surprises the talks should mark a positive step in terms of easing geopolitical tensions in the region,” said ADS Securities analyst Konstantinos Anthis.

This week is also expected to see the Federal Reserve lift interest rates again, and traders will be poring over its post-meeting statement for an idea about future moves.

That will be followed by the ECB’s gathering, which could see policymakers discuss winding down its crisis-era stimulus programme.

– Key figures around 1545 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 7,737.43 points (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 5,473.91 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.6 percent at 12,842.91 (close)

Milan – FTSE MIB: UP 3.4 percent at 22,086 (close)

Madrid: IBEX 35: UP 1.6 percent at 9,898 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.0 percent at 3,480.22

New York – Dow Jones: UP 0.2 percent at 25,357.52

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 22,804.04 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.3 percent at 31,063.70 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,052.78 (close)