Stocks up on China-US trade hopes, greenback trades at multi-year lows

Global shares reached a record high on Friday, helped by market optimism over signs of progress in US-China trade talks, while the dollar held close to its lowest levels in more than three years.

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The benchmark S&P500 index and Nasdaq hit all-time highs, lifted partly by gains in megacap growth stocks including Nvidia and Amazon.

The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq are headed for a weekly gain and are up about 5% this year overall, following a volatile first half of the year, dominated by US President Donald Trump's tariff announcement on April 2, which sent stocks plunging.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.668 on the day, set for a weekly gain.

The MSCI World Equity index touched a record high and was set for a weekly gain of 3.2%. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.35%. Asian shares hit their highest in more than three years in early trading.

"It's a continuation of this monster rally since early April," said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management in Santa Monica, California. "It's been quite an improbable comeback and it continues, assuming that the tariff controversy is no longer a major issue in the psyche of the market."

Investors saw a trade agreement between the United States and China on Thursday on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the United States as a positive sign, amid efforts to end the tariff war between the world's two biggest economies.