It has been another week of US-China trade news, with the highlight China president Xi’s speech in Hainan, where his rather predictable pledges to open Chinese markets further to foreign investment and follow global trade rules nevertheless produced a relief rally in equities, points out Sean Callow, Research Analyst at Westpac.

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“Sentiment then cooled a little on concern over a possible US missile strike on Syria.”

“But it seems the market mood over trade will continue to gyrate and in the week ahead, there seems little prospect of clarity on either US-China tariffs or NAFTA. More tangible, albeit somewhat overlooked in the media focus on Syria and the FBI raid on President Trump’s lawyer was the Congressional Budget Office’s in-depth update on the US fiscal position.”