Finance 0

US Futures Spike As Xi Pushes Globalization Agenda, Vows To Open China To The World

By Kurt Osterberg · On April 9, 2018

It seems the machines never sleep.

Before China’s Xi had even uttered a word – in war or peace – Nasdaq futures were ramping up 1% from the cash close and the S&P and Dow following… And once it was clear that Xi was not going to drop another trade war tape bomb, futures extended gains to the highs of the day session.

What futures loved was the series of traditionally hollow promises from Xi including:

promise to open up China to the world and expand imports

“work hard” to import more products that are needed by China’s people

implement major opening up steps,

lower auto and auto product import tariff later this year, open sector to higher foreign ownership

release a measures to broaden market access

expand the opening of China’s economy

push forward economic globalization

relax market threshold, widen access to market; take major measures in opening and sharply widen market access

implement financial and insurance market opening measures

strengthen IP protection for foreign firms (to restructure IP bureau

Then there were the ideological vows:

China reform and opening will definitely succeed, world should push for free trade

Cold war mentality is out of place, its a zero sum game, isolationism will hit walls

Urges dialog as only way to resolve disputes

Says states must refrain from seeking dominance

Need to uphold multilateral trading system

Incidentally, many if not all of these promises had been made previously, most extensively during last year’s Party Congress. In the meantime, the only real change was Xi upgrading himself from mere president and crowning himself emperor for life.

Never one to dig too deep between the lines, algos loved the speech and the result has been a vertical lift in risk-assets: