FILE PHOTO: Passersby are reflected on a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato
December 12, 2019
LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks hit a record high on Thursday, passing an all-time peak set in early 2018, on investor enthusiasm the United States and China were close to an initial deal to defuse a prolonged trade war.
Shares moved sharply higher after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the two countries were “getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL.”
The MSCI all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS>, which tracks shares in 49 countries, climbed to 551.84 points to surpass the previous record of 550.63 points set on Jan. 29, 2018.
The index has risen more than 20% this year, helped as well by a lowering of interest rates and injections of government stimulus around the world.
(GRAPHIC: World stocks have surged $10 trillion on way back to record high – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/12/9211/9123/Pasted%20Image.jpg)
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)