Global markets rally as US Treasury Secretary hints at de-escalation between trade dispute with China

Indian markets are expected to open with a big gap up amid positive cues from the global markets. The GIFT NIFTY futures traded 200 points higher on Wednesday at 7:30 am, indicating a probable opening at 24,400 levels for NIFTY.

Asian markets too followed suit and traded more than 1.4% higher on Wednesday morning. The Japanese, Hong Kong and Korean indices opened in green with gains of up to 1.7% across the board. The gains were largely driven by the positive commentary coming out of the US markets. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to around 3,310 while the Shenzhen Component climbed 0.4% to 9,909 on Wednesday, extending recent gains amid hopes for de-escalation in the US-China trade war.

Reports indicated that Treasury Secretary Bessent expects the trade war between the US and China to de-escalate since current tariffs are unsustainable, stoking hopes that the White House may go back on its decision to place 145% levies on China. The reports triggered a fresh rebound in the dollar and equities. The US benchmark indices like Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 gained nearly 2.7% across the board

Following the reports, the gold price also retreated from the record high levels of $3,500 per ounce and currently traded nearly 4% lower at $3,372 per ounce. In addition, the dollar index also jumped 1% to 99 after falling to three year low levels below 100.