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Markets rise as Beijing and Washington avert trade war

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AFP London
Last Updated : May 22 2018 | 1:10 AM IST

Global stock markets mostly rose today after the US and China said they had agreed to hold off imposing tariffs, averting a damaging trade war at least for now.

London stocks ended the session with a gain of 1.0 per cent and Paris closed 0.4 per cent higher, while Frankfurt was shut for a public holiday.

The Milan stock market however dropped 1.5 percent, amid concerns that Italy is inching towards becoming the first EU founding member to have a eurosceptic government.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Wall Street was in positive territory, with the Dow Jones gaining more than one percent.

After high-level talks in Washington, economic superpowers China and the United States revealed a deal had been hammered out, ending months of tension that had sent financial markets into a spin.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News on Sunday that "right now we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold" while Xinhua reported China's Vice Premier Liu He as saying "the two sides reached a consensus, will not fight a trade war, and will stop increasing tariffs on each other".

While short on detail, the announcements provided much relief to investors, who had been fearing the imposition of levies on billions of dollars of exports between the two sides.

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First Published: May 22 2018 | 1:10 AM IST

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