World stocks edge higher before Trump speech, China congress

HONG KONG — World stocks eked out modest gains and the dollar weakened against the yen on Tuesday as investors awaited a speech by President Donald Trump to the U.S. Congress.

KEEPING SCORE: European shares posted modest gains in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose less than 0.1 per cent to 7,256.23 and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.2 per cent to 4,854.14. Germany’s DAX added 0.1 per cent to 11,833.89. U.S. stocks were poised for a mixed open a day after closing at record highs, with Dow futures practically unchanged at 20,816.00 and broader S&P 500 futures slipping less than 0.1 per cent to 2,367.20.

BIG SPEECH: Investors are hoping Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress, scheduled for Tuesday evening — or Wednesday morning in Asia will bring more clarity on promised tax cuts, infrastructure spending and other business friendly policies. On Monday the president told a group of governors, “We’re going to start spending on infrastructure big.” He also said his budget would propose increasing defence spending by $54 billion while cutting domestic programs and foreign aid by the same amount.

INVESTOR INSIGHT: “Traders prefer to sit on the sidelines and refrain from taking any big bets ahead of the U.S. President’s congressional address later today in what seems to be the key market driver for the week,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM. “Expectations are very high on delivering some concrete plans this time and if President Trump fails to do so, many investors will be ready to push the sell button.”