Japanese actions jumped on Friday, supported by the increase in the dollar against the Yen, after a trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom has rekindled hopes of progress in tariff negotiations with other countries.
Bitcoin has reached its highest level since January and American crude oil has increased slightly after an increase of more than 3 % on Thursday, when President Donald Trump announced the agreement with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the first since Mr. Trump suspended customs duties for 90 days to leave a room for maneuver for negotiations.
At the same time, fears that the limited trade agreement concluded with London does not really provide a model for other agreements have tempered optimism as to the outcome of Sino-American commercial negotiations scheduled for Switzerland on Saturday.
The star values of continental China opened the day down 0.2 %, while the Hang Kong Hang Seng index increased by 0.2 %.
The nikkei and the broader Topix index each increased by around 1.2 %, the Topix preparing to extend its series of victories at 11 sessions, the longest since October 2017.
The Taiwan reference index increased by 1 %, while Australian shares gained 0.4 %.
The MSCI index, which brings together the actions of the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan, has remained generally stable.
“The agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom was more a matter of form than in substance,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial analyst at Capital.com.
“However, this feeds the discourse that the United States seeks to quickly conclude trade agreements and reduce customs duties – in a marginal way – as well as other trade barriers,” added Rodda.
“Constructive language and declarations of intention should be enough to increase actions in the wake of trade negotiations between the United States and China. »»
Trump rejected the idea that the agreement with the United Kingdom can serve as a model for other negotiations.
The “general” agreement maintains a 10 % customs right on goods imported from the United Kingdom, but reduces prohibitive rights imposed by the United States on British automobile exports. The United Kingdom has agreed to reduce its customs duties by 5.1 % to 1.8 % and to grant better access to American products.
last week, Trump said he had “potential” trade agreements with India, South Korea and Japan.
Brut Nymex increased slightly 0.2 % to 60.02 dollars a barrel on Friday morning, after jumping 3.2 % the day before. Brent gained 0.3 % at 63 dollars per barrel, after having increased by 2.8 % on Thursday.
Gold, a refuge value, continued its fall, weakening from 0.5 % to around 3,288 dollars per ounce, after dropping by 3.6 % in the last two sessions.
The dollar index, which measures the American currency compared to six other major currencies, increased slightly by 0.1 % to reach its highest level in one month, to 100.77.
The euro dropped at its lowest level in one month, to 1.12105 dollars, and the pound sterling slipped to its lowest level in three weeks, to 1.32205 dollars.
The yen straightened slightly to 145.77 for a dollar, but after falling 1.5 % on Thursday, where he had reached his lowest level in one month at 146.175.
The increase in yields of US Treasury bills has helped support the greenback, the yield at 10 years remaining stable to 4.3687 % after jumping 10 base points Thursday, the demand for refuges obligations having calmed.
Bitcoin was also supported by improving the feeling of the market, reaching its highest level since January 31 at 103,090.17 dollars, and thus approaching its highest historic reached on January 20 at 109,071.86 dollars.
Geoffrey Kendrick, of Standard Charterd, no longer considers the feeling of risk as the main engine of the largest cryptocurrency in the world.
“Everything is now a question of flow, and these take many forms,” said Kendrick, a world manager for the bank’s digital asset research, highlighting the influx of liquidity towards Bitcoin ETF, as well as purchases made by “whales”.
“I think a new historic record for Bitcoin is imminent,” he said. “I apologize if my goal of $ 120,000 for the second quarter is too low. »»
