BEIJING – Global stock markets mostly rose Monday as investors eyed a busy week of corporate earnings and a possible U.S. interest rate cut.
Major indexes in Frankfurt, Shanghai and Tokyo advanced as fears about U.S.-Chinese trade tension receded. Shares in London dipped after the European Union agreed Monday to delay Brexit until Jan. 31.
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Last week, markets shrugged off soft earnings from Boeing, Caterpillar and other U.S. companies. Another 160 report this week, including Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, General Electric and Exxon Mobil.
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again. Central banks in Japan and Canada also are due to announce interest rate decisions.
The U.S. Treasury is due to report which governments it deems are manipulating their currencies to boost exports, a designation that can trigger penalties. A watch list issued in May included China, Japan and Germany.
This will be "one of the most substantial data and event risk weeks of the year," Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a report. "Stock markets and energy will likely be punished should earnings or data from the U.S. or China disappoint."
By midday Monday, Germany's DAX had gained 0.3% to 12,935 and France's CAC 40 ticked up slightly to 5,724. London's FTSE 100 shed 0.2% to 7,313.
On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%.
In Asian trading, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.8% at 2,980.05 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 22,867.27. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.8% to 26,891.26.
South Korea's Kospi was up 0.3% at 2,093.60 and Australia's S&P-ASX 200 rose 1 point to 6,740.70. Taiwan advanced while markets in New Zealand, Singapore and India were closed for holidays.
On Friday, the S&P 500 closed within 0.1% of its all-time high on July 26.
Investor attention has shifted to corporate earnings as tension eased after Washington and Beijing resumed negotiations.
Both sides have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods. The 15-month-old conflict has battered factories and farmers on both sides and spurred fears the global economy might tip into recession.
On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence is due to deliver a speech on U.S.-China relations amid tension over protests in Hong Kong.
Also, markets are watching a monthly Chinese manufacturing indicator due out Friday for signs of whether economic growth is weakening further after slowing to a three-decade low in the quarter ending in September.
On Sunday, the government reported profits at China's biggest industrial companies declined by a bigger-than-expected 2.1% from a year earlier in the first nine months of 2019. Profit at state-owned companies fell 9.6% while it rose 5.4% at private enterprises.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 26 cents to $56.40 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 43 cents on Friday to close at $56.66. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 57 cents to $61.40 per barrel in London.
CURRENCY: The dollar advanced to 108.72 yen from Friday's 108.66 yen. The euro gained to $1.1099 from $1.1080.