·         Stocks rose on Tuesday as large tech companies like Apple and Amazon outperformed while investors remained cautiously optimistic Washington and Beijing could move forward on a trade deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 256.10 points to close at 23,787.45, posting its first three-day winning streak since late November. The S&P 500 rose 0.97 percent to 2,574.41 as the real estate and communications services sectors outperformed. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.1 percent to 6,897. For the year so far, the Dow and S&P 500 have risen 1.97 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq is up nearly 4 percent in that time period.

 

·         Stocks in Europe closed higher on Tuesday, hitting a three-week high on the back of hopes for a trade deal between the U.S. and China.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose by more than 1 percent, with all major bourses and every sector except telecoms finishing in positive territory. Industrial stocks were the top performing sector with gains of 2 percent.

·         Asia markets looked set for gains Wednesday morning as investors remained cautiously optimistic Beijing and Washington could move forward on a trade deal.

 

Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 rose about 0.5 percent in early trade, with most sectors seeing gains. The energy subindex advanced 1.17 percent on the back of Tuesday’s strong gain in oil prices. Oil stocks gained: shares of Santos rose 0.87 percent, Woodside Petroleum up 1.17 percent and Beach Energy advanced 2.07 percent.

  

Elsewhere, futures pointed to a positive open in Japan. Nikkei futures in Chicago was at 20,330 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 20,290, a touch above the index’s last close at 20,204.04.

Reference: CNBC