(Bloomberg) -- Chinese stocks climbed in pre-market trading and the yuan strengthened after presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump said they won’t announce any new tariffs for 90 days.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index jumped 3.1 percent to a two-month high, while the yuan rose 0.5 percent to 6.9163 per dollar in offshore trading. The agreement means the U.S. will hold off on its prior plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, which were set to take effect from January.
The news boosted risk assets globally on Monday, encouraging strategists at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to upgrade their already-positive forecast for China’s stocks next year. But skeptics say it will take more than a pause on tariffs to turn around the negative sentiment that’s blanketed mainland markets this year. Weaker economic growth remains a key overhang for investors, who are still reckoning with soaring corporate defaults and a bear market in stocks.
“The trade situation is slightly better than before but there’s no substantial development,” said Hao Hong, a strategist with Bocom International Holdings Co. “What we have now is a truce at the best. This may produce a short-term rebound, though the resilience of the rally depends on how soon everyone will begin to see the situation through.”
The Shanghai Composite Index is among the world’s worst benchmarks this year, down 22 percent for its worst annual performance since 2008. The yuan has weakened about 10 percent since a high in April.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Sofia Horta e Costa in Hong Kong at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net;Amanda Wang in Shanghai at twang234@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Frost at rfrost4@bloomberg.net
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