World Shares Stalled Near Previous Highs Ahead of End-of-Year

SYDNEY, Australia – Shares in the world stock market stalled near its previous record highs, while the currency market was trading quietly on Monday as the market nears a close ahead of the Christmas holiday.

After nearing its record high during the previous trading session, the pan-European STOXX 600 index tracked a marginal decline for the day. The index was down by 0.14% at around 8:51 GMT, On the other hand, the broadest index in the MSCI of shares in the Asia-Pacific outside of Japan was up 0.05% for the day, nearing its record high since June 2018.

The MSCI all-country stock index has recorded a 23% increase so far in 2019, marking its highest year since 2009. It has also gained around 3% this month following the easing trade tensions between the US and China, as well as the growing confidence that Britain can avoid a chaotic Brexit transition. However, despite its recent gains and the record high from Friday’s session last week, the index was losing momentum and was last seen trading flat on Monday.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that Washington and Beijing are scheduled to sign the partial trade agreement very shortly. The initial trade agreement calls for the US to cut tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for China’s increased imports of American farm goods.

On Monday, China has also made a statement regarding cutting tariffs on US goods, which includes avocados, frozen pork, and some kinds of semiconductors in 2020.

According to a market strategist at AxiTrader, Stephen Innes, the so-called phase one agreement to end the trade war between the US and China, plus the recent UK general elections, have helped clear the confusion in the market and remove tail risks as well.

However, he also added that although phase one of the trade agreement has reflected on global stock prices in recent sessions, the positioning in the market has still been light. Innes further stated that the market could push significantly further with the support for a global growth rebound id plenty of capital will be deployed.

All three major indexes in the US have recorded gains on Friday, with the benchmark S&P 500 index marking its longest streak of gains in the last two years, and Dow Jones and Nasdaq tracked advances as well.

During the trading hours in Asia, the Nikkei index in Japan was mostly trading flat after reaching a 14-month high last week, while Chinese stocks recorded its biggest single-day drop in the last six weeks.