US equity markets posted strong gains amid a broad-based rally following the announcement of a partial trade deal between the US and China albeit the benchmark indices closed off their session highs - Dow up +320-points or +1.21%, paring an earlier ++517-point/+2% gain. The broader S&P500 gained +1.09% after trading as much as +1.9% earlier in the session. NASDAQ +1.34%, off an intra-session high that saw the technology-centric index up as much as +2.1%. Apple Inc rose +2.66% to a fresh record closing high of US$236.21 per share. Wendy’s Co rose +3.95% after the fast-food retailer announced third-quarter same-store sales that exceeded expectations and raised its dividend. President Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that phase one of the trade deal will be written over the next three weeks. As part of this phase, China will purchase between US$40B and US$50B in US agricultural products. President Trump also said the deal includes agreements on foreign-exchange issues with China and will take three to five weeks to finalise. In exchange, the US agreed to hold off on tariff hikes that were set to take effect Tuesday (15 October). Phase two of the deal will “start almost immediately” after the first one is signed, President Trump said. Separately, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said both sides struck an “almost complete agreement” on currency and financial services issues. However, equity markets lost some steam shortly before the close after US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said a decision had not been made over additional US tariffs of 15% scheduled for 15 December on ~US$160B in annual Chinese imports. Elsewhere, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said on Friday (11 October) that overseas financial service companies in futures, securities and mutual funds will be able to apply for total control of onshore ventures starting in 2020. The move came as the country speeds up its financial markets opening. Both the Dow and S&P500 snapped a three-week losing streak, gaining +0.91% and +0.62% for the week respectively. The Nasdaq rose +0.93% for the week.
