Global stocks sustain rally as US-China trade talks wrap up

Stocks around the world built on their early 2019 rally Wednesday after negotiators from the U.S. and China extended their trade talks to a third day, which investors took as a sign the discussions were productive even though no major breakthroughs have been announced. Oil prices also continued to climb and stocks linked to faster economic growth, such as technology companies, kept climbing.

The S&P 500 index climbed 6 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 2,580 as of 9:50 a.m. ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 110 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 23,900. The Nasdaq composite rose 29 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6,926. The Russell 2000 index of smaller and U.S.-focused stocks added 4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,431.

Canada's main stock index was up 71.87, or 0.49 per cent, to 14,677.02 in mid-morning trading.

Indexes in Europe and Asia made bigger gains. Germany's DAX added 1.3 per cent and the CAC 40 in France climbed 1.4 per cent.

Britain's FTSE 100 jumped 1 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1 per cent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rallied 2.3 per cent. South Korea's Kospi advanced 2 per cent.

China-U.S. trade

The latest round of trade negotiations between the world's two largest economic powers have now concluded, but investors were cheered when they learned the two-day talks would be extended. No details were immediately announced.

The Trump administration wants the government of President Xi Jinping to alter its handling of technology and intellectual property held by foreign companies, and change plans for government-led creation of Chinese leaders in advanced technologies.

Chinese officials have suggested they could revise some of their industrial plans but have but won't abandon larger goals that they consider a path to prosperity and global influence.

Energy sector rally

Technology companies kept edging higher after their steep losses over the final months of 2018. Chipmakers made some of the largest gains. Intel climbed 1.3 per cent to $48.37 US and Micron Technology picked up 6.6 per cent to $3.598. Elsewhere, Microsoft added 0.8 per cent to $103.67.

Oil prices also continued to rally. U.S. crude rose 3.3 per cent to $51.40 a barrel in New York. It hasn't traded above $50 a barrel in almost a month. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 2.8 per cent to $60.35 a barrel in London.

Crude oil is on track to rise for the eight day in a row and ninth in the last 10. U.S. crude has jumped 13 per cent so far in 2019.

Bond prices continued to fall. That sent yields higher, a sign investors expect more economic growth and higher long-term interest rates. the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.73 per cent from 2.71 per cent.

Slower rate hikes

The Bank of Canada kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent Wednesday. 

Later Wednesday the U.S. Federal Reserve will release minutes from its policy meeting last month, at which the central bank raised interest rates and reduced its forecasts for the number of hikes this year from three to two.

The U.S. dollar slipped to 108.47 yen from 108.65 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1519 from $1.1443 and the British pound rose to $1.2785 from $1.2719.