Markets mixed, US tariffs on China need to be “rolled back” for further gains

Markets were mixed on Thursday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.3 percent.

Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 percent but the Nikkei 225 was little changed.

In the US, sentiment was boosted by a report that claims for unemployment benefits fell to 202,000 in the week ended 30 March, the lowest level since 1969.

In contrast, European investment sentiment was weighed down by a report that German factory orders fell 4.2 percent in February.

In Asia, the view that “a US-China trade agreement is virtually a done deal has fuelled optimism,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, but he warned that “markets may be converging too quickly on the 'done' before the 'deal.'”

“To really give the markets another lift, we need to see some of the existing tariffs, whether it's on the $50 billion or the $200 billion, actually rolled back,” said Rob Subbaraman, head of emerging markets economics at Nomura.