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GLOBAL MARKETS-Progress in U.S.-China trade talks spurs world stock rally

Published 15/04/2019, 06:34 pm
GLOBAL MARKETS-Progress in U.S.-China trade talks spurs world stock rally
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* Sentiment boosted by China data, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) results

* Positive news on China-U.S. trade talks whet risk appetite

* MSCI gains, yen and franc weaken

By Tom Finn

LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - Progress in the U.S.-China trade talks helped propel world stock markets to a 6-month high on Friday and steered investors away from save havens such as the Japanese yen.

In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 , German DAX futures FDXc1 and London's FTSE futures FFIc1 each rose about 0.1 percent.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hoped U.S.-China trade talks were approaching a final lap. combined with strong Chinese export and euro zone industrial production data on Friday has lifted global equities, bund yields and the euro.

The U.S. Federal Reserve pausing its rate tightening efforts and Britain delaying its exit from the European Union has also helped lift the mood in equity markets.

"It seems like bullish sentiment has decent grip for now and everyone is focused on the year to date performance of the equity markets," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at TF Global Markets (UK) Ltd in London.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.5 percent. The index is up nearly 15 percent for the year. .MIWD00000PUS

Investors this week will be scrutinising data - including Germany's ZEW survey and Chinese gross domestic product due Wednesday - for signs of whether a global economic slowdown is turning around.

The optimism over progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations pushed investors away from safe haven assets such as the Swiss franc and toward riskier currencies.

The yen JPY=D3 dropped towards its 2019 low on Monday and the Swiss franc CHF=D3 hit its weakest in nearly a month.

The dollar .DXY also weakened slightly, allowing the euro to cement gains above $1.13 EUR=EBS .

Further spurring risk appetite, Reuters exclusively reported on Monday that U.S. negotiators have tempered demands that China curb industrial subsidies as a condition for a trade deal after strong resistance from Beijing. and other risky assets have been volatile this year over worries of a slowdown in the United States and other major economies.

The European Central Bank maintained its loose policy stance on Wednesday, highlighting threats to global growth.

"The market is bearish Europe. Not enough growth, not enough inflation, too much fiscal inaction and too much ECB dithering for some people' taste," said Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) analyst Kit Juckes.

In commodities, oil provided big milestones last week, with Brent breaking through the $70 threshold and the U.S. benchmark posting six straight weeks of gains for the first time since early 2016. O/R

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 was last off 23 cents at $71.32 while crude futures CLc1 , the U.S. benchmark, eased 33 cents to $63.56. (Editing by Alison Williams (NYSE:WMB))

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