Asian shares advanced on Thursday on news the Trump administration has reached out to China for a new round of trade talks, which raised hopes for a deal easing the bitter tariff dispute between the world’s two biggest economies.
Despite Asia’s gains, spreadbetters expected European stocks to dip, with Britain’s FTSE .FTSE seen opening 0.1 percent lower, Germany’s DAX .GDAXIlosing 0.24 percent and France’s CAC .FCHI slipping 0.3 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.6 percent, a day after it hit 14-month lows.
Senior U.S. officials led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently sent an invitation to their Chinese counterparts, including Vice Premier Liu He, to hold another bilateral trade meeting.
The development comes as more than 85 U.S. industry groups launched a coalition on Wednesday to take public its fight against President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
Trump’s tariffs have escalated far beyond what business groups once imagined as the administration prepares to activate duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, hitting a broad array of internet technology products and consumer goods from handbags to bicycles to furniture.
