➤ China, US discussing possibility of in-person talks.
➤ US GDP growth revised down to 2% in Q2.
➤ Italy's Conte gets mandate to lead potential 5 Star-Democratic Party coalition.
➤ British lawmakers legally challenge Parliament suspension.
U.S. stocks rose Aug. 29, alongside European stocks, amid trade optimism and as the threat of snap elections in Italy seemed to have been avoided for now.
China's Commerce Ministry reportedly said that the two camps are talking about meeting in person in September. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said talks between the two largest economies of the world continued and that Chinese trade representatives' visit to Washington was being discussed.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose additional levies on a combined $550 billion of Chinese goods in response to what he called "politically motivated" duties on American products unveiled by China earlier Aug. 23.
China Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said while the country could retaliate further, the two nations should engage in talks over whether the U.S. tariffs could be reversed.
The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq 100 was up 1.1% and 1.25%, respectively, around 9:30 a.m. ET, extending gains from yesterday. In Europe, the FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX rose more than 1% each and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.5%.
In Asia, the Shanghai SE Composite and Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.1% each. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.3%.
In the bond market, the yield on 30-year Treasurys gained 3 basis points around 9:30 a.m. ET, after dropping to an all-time low yesterday as Mnuchin said that the Trump administration was considering the issuance of ultra-long government debt. Ten-year Treasury yields were little changed at 1.484%.
Elsewhere, Italian 10-year bond yields dropped 11 basis points to 0.938% as President Sergio Mattarella gave a mandate to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to form a new coalition government between the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party. "A less expansionary budget and cancellation of the planned VAT hike now appears more likely further encouraging the adjustment lower in Italian government bond yields," wrote analysts at MUFG Bank.
The yield on German bunds with the same maturity was little changed negative 0.710%.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of developed-market peers, strengthened 0.1% after the U.S. GDP growth was revised down to 2% in the second quarter.
Sterling fell 0.2% versus the dollar around 9:30 a.m. ET as more than 70 U.K. lawmakers legally challenged the suspension of Parliament for nearly a month.
In other currencies, the euro was 0.1% down as eurozone economic sentiment improved in August and the French economy grew more than expected in the second quarter.
The Japanese yen depreciated 0.2% versus the dollar.
In commodities, Brent crude fell 0.4% to $60.24 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. Gold was up 0.2%.
More from S&P Global Market Intelligence:
Fed's Daly in 'watch-and-see' mode following July rate cut
Number of CRE-concentrated banks falls 7% in Q2'19
Trade war enhancing Android's rise in China
Looming tariffs should not hurt Apple's new iPhones, but long-term risks remain
The day ahead:
10 a.m. ET – U.S. pending home sales index (-0.3% monthly)
10:30 a.m. ET – U.S. EIA natural gas report
4:30 p.m. ET – U.S. Fed balance sheet and money supply
7:30 p.m. ET – Japan unemployment rate
7:50 p.m. ET – Japan industrial production (0.3% monthly)
7:50 p.m. ET – Japan retail sales (-0.8% yearly)
