Markets mixed as US and China sign trade deal

Markets were mixed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to another record high but the STOXX Europe 600 was flat and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 percent.

Investors were encouraged by the signing of a preliminary trade deal between the US and China on Wednesday.

Wayne Wicker, CIO of Vantagepoint Investment Advisers, said that “while there’s a lot of room to go with additional discussions with China, what is happening today is a real positive step”.

US corporate earnings for the fourth quarter have also been coming in better than expected, with 77 percent of companies having exceeded earnings estimates so far, according to Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors.

However, Arone also noted that “expectations bar has been lowered so much that it doesn’t take a significant amount of effort for companies to overstep it”.