Markets mixed as Trump hints at end to trade war

Markets were mixed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.6 percent and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.4 percent.

While concerns over a possible impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump persisted, the latter provided investors with a positive distraction on Wednesday by saying that a deal to end the protracted US trade war with China could happen “sooner than you think”.

John Carey, Amundi Pioneer’s director of equity income, said that while there is some “political risk” in the market, in the near term, “people are looking at corporate earnings and the economy and feeling reasonably secure that the bottom isn’t falling out just yet”.