Global shares bounced back on Friday, with Asian stocks recovering from a three-month low, as investors focused more on optimism about the global economic recovery than rising tensions between the West and China.
European stocks look set to open higher, with Euro Stoxx futures rising 0.8% and Britain’s FTSE futures gaining 0.61%.
MSCI’s ex-Japan Asia index rose 1.43% after hitting a near three-month low on Thursday, as the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.53%, snapping a three-day losing streak.
On Thursday, Chinese shares fell near a three-month low hit earlier in the month. The European Union joined Washington’s allies this week in imposing sanctions on officials in China’s Xinjiang region over allegations of human rights abuses, prompting retaliatory sanctions from Beijing.
“All the sanctions so far have been largely symbolic and should have little economic impact. But the Sino-U.S. confrontation is affecting market sentiment. It could take some time for them to come to any compromise,” said Yasutada Suzuki, head of emerging market investment at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.47% after Wall Street shares staged a rally, driven by cheap, cyclical stocks that have been battered by the pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62% and the S&P 500 gained 0.52% while the Nasdaq Composite added just 0.12%.
