Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight, with the Nikkei (^N225) slipped 0.05% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 1.2% in Hong Kong. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.2% up by the end of the session.
US Treasury Secretary Bessent said the US and China were continuing talks on maintaining their current trade truce before it expires in two weeks’ time. He said another 90-day extension, which had been indicated by China’s delegation, was an option but that the final decision lay with Trump. National Economic Council Chair Hassett said Trump would see the final details on the China talks today.
In South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 0.7% on the day, buoyed by hopes of a US trade agreement prior to the August 1 deadline.
Across the pond on Wall Street, stocks retreated, with the the S&P 500 (^GSPC) losing 0.5%, ending a run six consecutive record highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.4% lower and the Dow Jones (^DJI) also fell 0.5%.
It came as Tuesday was a busy day for US data, which sent a decent signal on the state of the US economy. The Conference Board’s July consumer confidence index came in stronger than expected at 97.2 (vs 96.0), while inflation expectations continued to reverse their spike earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, US Treasuries saw a strong rally, as 2-year yields fell -5.8bps, while 10-year (-9.1bps) and 30-year (-10.2bps) yields saw their biggest daily declines since early June.
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