Australia

The local share market is poised to open lower despite gains in oil and base metal prices and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s declaration that the US-China trade war is “on hold” following their agreement to suspend tariff threats.
At 830am (AEST), the Australian share price futures index was down 13 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 6080 points. The Australian dollar is buying 75.85 US cents.
In the US, stocks, and oil prices, rose after the US-China trade war was declared “on hold” to work on a wider agreement, while market confidence was also boosted by the nearly $US28 billion ($37 billion) worth of merger deals.
The Australian share market yesterday closed steady with strong gains by the healthcare and utilities sectors countering yet another fall by Telstra and weakness among the banks and miners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed down 2.9 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 6,084.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 0.7 points, or 0.01 per cent at 6190.2 points.
Out today: ANZ-Roy Morgan releases the results of its weekly consumer confidence survey; James Hardie releases its full-year earnings results.

Asia

Asian stocks rose on Mnuchin’s news that a trade war had been averted.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.45 per cent, led by strong gains in greater China. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.6 per cent, the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.64 per cent, and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.31 per cent.

Europe

Britain’s FTSE 100 hit another record high on Monday as the easing in US-Chinese trade tensions and a strengthening dollar gave more fuel to the internationally-exposed index.
The index of Britain’s biggest companies ended the session up 1 per cent, hitting a record high of 7859.17 points. The mid-cap FTSE 250 also hit a record of 21,151.32 points, up 0.7 per cent.

North America

US stocks rallied on Monday after the US and China put their trade differences “on hold”, while sentiment was also boosted by the nearly $US28 billion ($37 billion) worth of merger deals.
The truce sparked a broad rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 1 per cent. The small-cap Russell 2000 hit a record high for the fourth straight session, though it was underperforming large caps.
Mnuchin said on Sunday the US and China had agreed to drop their tariff threats, while China on Monday praised a significant dialing back of tensions.
The S&P industrial sector advanced 1.7 per cent. Boeing, which sells about a fourth of its commercial aircraft to Chinese customers, jumped 3.5 per cent, the biggest percentage gainer on the Dow and lifting the blue-chip index higher.
At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 298.20 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 25,013.29, the S&P 500 gained 20.04 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 2733.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 39.70 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7394.04.
General Electric advanced 2.7 per cent on an $US11.1 billion deal to merge its transportation business with rail equipment maker Wabtec, which jumped about 3.9 per cent.

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Lex Hall is a Morningstar content editor, based in Sydney.

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