Markets rise, Trump sees trade deal with Japan “getting close”

Most markets rose on Monday while the US stock market was closed.

The STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.2 percent after results of European parliamentary elections showed strong support for pro-European Union parties.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 percent and the Shanghai Composite rose 1.4 percent.

While on a state visit to Japan, US President Donald Trump said Tokyo and Washington were “getting close” to a deal that would address the US trade deficit.

However, Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy at National Australia Bank, said “there is no expectation a comprehensive trade deal will be struck anytime soon”.

The trade deal that most investors are focused on, though, is that between the US and China, and one analyst thinks that the market is still not accurately pricing in the probability that the trade talks will ultimately fail.

“The market got the wake-up call on May 5, and it hit the snooze button — expecting this to go away with a tweet,” Alicia Levine, chief strategist at BNY Mellon, said on CNBC last week.

“The trade war is turning into a tech war, and this could go on longer. It could be deeper, and it could be harder to come up with a resolution,” she added.