Asian equities soar to peak on easing trade tensions

Asian stocks surged while gold and bonds retreated on Monday as signs of easing trade tensions between China and the US buoyed risk appetite, in a strong start to a week that will be headlined by central bank meetings and megacap earnings.

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Top Chinese and US economic officials hashed out on Sunday the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald J. Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to decide on later this week in their eagerly anticipated meeting in South Korea.

A trade deal would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, helping soothe investor nerves that were frayed due to escalating trade tensions between the world’s top two economies.

That sent stocks sharply higher, with South Korea’s KOSPI, Taiwan stocks and Japan’s Nikkei adding more than 2% each and crossing landmarks to record highs. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares rose 1.3% to a record peak.

US stock futures jumped, with Nasdaq futures up 1%. European futures were 0.5% higher. The Nikkei breached 50,000 for the first time while the Kospi rose above 4,000.