Markets extend gains eyeing trade deal, US jobs

Trade of the Day: Stocks extend rebound as growth is in focus; oil gives up some gains; safe havens gold and yen dumped

Quote of the Day:  ”This airplane is designed by clowns, who are in turn supervised by monkeys,” a Boeing employee wrote about the MAX in an exchange from 2017. The company delivered over a hundred pages of internal messages delivered Thursday to congressional investigators.

Stock of the day:    Luxury brand retailer Dickson Concepts rose 47% after it said it will receive $147 million from the divesture of an investee unlisted company. The company sold its 3.73% stake in the US-based technology company to PayPal. The purchase consideration amounts to over half the market capitalization of Dickson Concepts.

Number of the Day:. $7 billion. The targeted amount to be raised by private equity firm Bain Capital for a new equity fund as it looks to expand its product offerings.

Tip of the Day:  Nomura Holdings has raised its target price for convenience store chain Seven & I Holdings to 5,500 yen from 4,500 yen, indicating a 36% gain from the market price. Shares leapt 3.7% after the upgrade.

Financial markets built on their gains amid no flare-up in tensions in the Middle East and after US President Donald Trump stoked further optimism about a comprehensive trade deal with China when he mentioned phase two negotiations.

“We will start right away negotiating phase two … But phase one was — is  – a phenomenal deal.  Could be up to $50 billion in farm product,” he told reporters at The White House.

Trump’s comments follow a confirmation from Beijing that Liu He, China’s top trade negotiator, will lead a delegation to the Washington next week to sign the phase one trade agreement on Jan. 15.

The market’s focus is returning to economic growth and optimism about recovery has been revived after US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the US economy remains in a “good place” and “there are some indications that headwinds to global growth may be beginning to abate”

The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index rose 0.41%, Japan’s Nikkei index added 0.47% and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 index was up 0.8%. The Hang Seng index edged up 0.27% as technology sector’s hefty gains were offset by losses in the energy and telecom sectors.

Europe is also trading higher with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up 0.2% and US futures also gained with S&P contracts up 0.2% and Nasdaq contracts 0.4% higher. The focus is now on the all-critical US jobs report for December to be released in a few hours. It is forecast to show that the economy added 160,000 jobs last month.