U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He today in an effort to advance the trade negotiations between the two countries. The meeting is expected to take place at 4:30 p.m. EST in the Oval Office. According to reports by Reuters and CNBC, the trade talks progressed significantly on Wednesday after China legitimized U.S. concerns about intellectual property theft for the first time. This admission has been seen as a truly positive sign that a deal could be forthcoming. Prior reports indicated that a deal has been reached, but that a plan for implementing the terms hadn’t yet been created.
Despite optimism about the upcoming meeting, Asian markets were trading mixed on Thursday. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.50 percent and the Shenzhen Composite was up 0.64 percent, but most other indexes were trading lower or flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.44 percent and Australia’s ASX 200 was 0.91 percent lower as of 1:30 p.m. HK/SIN. The choppy Asian trading came after a day of gains on Wall Street on Wednesday. Renewed hopes for a softer Brexit also supported a positive day in Europe on Wednesday.
Currency Movements
The currency markets were mostly flat on Thursday afternoon in Asia, with traders waiting to see the outcome of the trade talks later today. The dollar eased against the yen, down 0.05 percent to 111.41. The greenback was also lower against the British pound and the euro, trading at $1.317 and $1.1241 respectively. The dollar index was down 0.03 percent to 97.07 .DXY. The U.S. dollar was also pressured by weak data released on Wednesday which showed that services sector activity hit more than a 19-month low in March and that private payrolls expanded less than expected, hinting that the economy may be slowing down.