Australia

The local share market is expected to open flat after Wall Street pared back earlier gains to end only slightly higher, and most base metals prices fell.
At 8.30am (AEST), the Australian share price futures index was flat at 6122 points.
The Australian dollar is buying 75.29 US cents.
In the US, stocks ended a choppy session slightly higher as weakness in defensive stocks offset optimism following US President Donald Trump’s conciliatory remarks toward China’s ZTE Corp that calmed US-China trade tensions.
The Australian share market yesterday closed higher, with gains in the resource and healthcare sectors overshadowing a hefty fall in Telstra shares to an almost seven-year low.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 19.1 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 6135.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 18.6 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 6235 points.
Out today: RBA minutes of May monetary policy meeting; ABS releases lending finance figures for March; ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey results.
Equities news: Macquarie Atlas Roads AGM in Sydney; Ruralco releases its half-year earnings results. 

Asia

Asian shares rose to near two-month highs on Monday on hopes of a thaw in US-China trade tensions. China’s output and consumption growth probably weren't affected by trade tensions with the US in April. Factory production may pick up to 6.4 percent and retail sales could be little changed at 10 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei tacked on 0.5 per cent.
Chinese shares came off the day’s highs but were still up after Trump’s comments on ZTE, which JPMorgan analysts said was “a significant positive”.
Shanghai’s SSE Composite rose 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed more than 1 per cent.

Europe

UK shares fell slightly on Monday following a strong run, while a potential bidding war for IWG triggered a surge in the serviced office provider’s stock, the latest deal in a flurry of mergers and acquisitions.
The FTSE 100 fell nearly 0.2 per cent, weighed down by financials and by a rising pound, which typically weighs on dollar-earning companies, while the broader FTSE 250, which includes IWG, added 0.1 per cent.
On the European mainland shares were virtually flat with Germany’s DAX 30 down 0.18 per cent, and France’s CAC 40 down 0.02 per cent.
The FTSE 100 recorded a seventh straight week of gains on Friday, its longest winning streak since June 2015, as investors began to warm to UK equities amid a wave of deals and takeovers.
Morgan Stanley on Monday upgraded its view on British equities, saying the market should benefit from higher commodity prices and an increase in dealmaking activity despite economic uncertainty over Brexit.

North America

The S&P 500 briefly crossed into negative territory after hitting a roughly two-month high earlier in the session, but was back on track for its fourth straight day of gains.
Trump vowed to help ZTE “get back into business, fast” nearly a month after the Commerce Department implemented a ban on US companies selling to the company.
Trump’s reversal came as high-level trade talks between the world’s two largest national economies were due to resume this week after Washington’s tough stance on trade and tariffs put the countries on track for a potential trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 68.24 points, or 0.27 per cent higher, at 24,899.41, the S&P 500 gained 2.41 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 2730.13 and the Nasdaq Composite added 8.43 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 7411.32.

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

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