Stocks in Hong Kong flirted with their best one-day performance this year on the back of renewed hopes for some kind of resolution in the trade dispute between the United States and China.

Asia stocks climbed on Wednesday after US president Donald Trump said he will hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting later this month, reigniting hopes that trade talks were back on track.

The slump in Japanese exports accelerated during May on the back of an escalation in global trade tensions and the effects of a lengthy holiday to mark the ascension of a new emperor. 

Adobe on Tuesday reported upbeat quarterly results driven by strength in its digital media unit, which includes its creative cloud and photo shop products, but delivered a soft outlook for the current quarter.

The whiff of fresh stimulus from the European Central Bank and renewed hopes for an end to the trade war propped up stocks and left the S&P 500 within 1 per cent of its closing high.

JPMorgan Chase’s asset management chief Chris Willcox is retiring and will be replaced by senior executive George Gatch.

Stocks and government bonds rallied on Tuesday after President Donald Trump fuelled hopes for a trade deal with China and Mario Draghi offered markets the clearest indication yet that the European Central Bank is ready to launch another round of stimulus if needed.

Tech start-up Babylon has announced that GP at Hand, its video consultation and AI chatbot app, will go live in Birmingham on Wednesday, marking the start of a national rollout of the London-based digital health service.

The UK and Italy will jointly bid to host the UN climate talks next year, signalling the UK is likely to play a leading role in climate diplomacy as president of the 2020 dialogue.

Oil prices jumped on Tuesday, with investor sentiment boosted by dovish comments from the European Central Bank president and potential sign of progress in US-China trade relations.

Brussels has warned Switzerland it will cut off the country’s stock traders from EU markets at the end of the month, saying it will not tolerate any “watering down” of the single market’s rules during a “decisive” phase in the Brexit talks.

Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, hit back at criticism from President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon, insisting the ECB was simply fulfilling its mandate and not engaged in currency manipulation to drive the euro down.

Semiconductor stocks filled the highest ranks of the S&P 500’s top performers after a “very good telephone conversation” between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spurred investor hopes for an end to the US-China trade war that may help revive prospects for the sector.

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, said he had an “open mind” to Libra, the new digital currency backed by Facebook, but there would be no “open door” to its launch and it would have to meet the “highest standards”.

The asset management arm of Australian investment bank Macquarie has raised €6bn to pursue deals in infrastructure in Europe, people familiar with the matter said.

South Africa’s Old Mutual sacked its chief executive over his conflicting interest in a private equity group, adding to the intensifying malaise about the state of corporate governance in Africa’s most industrialised nation.

The Trump administration’s top trade representative Robert Lighthizer has criticised the EU for failing to match the US’s ambition for a “level playing field” in international trade.

Shares in MoneyGram more than doubled on Tuesday on news that it had expanded a partnership with cryptocurrency and blockchain start-up Ripple, which agreed to invest up to $50m in the company.

Online trading platform Plus500 has suffered a shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting as investors protested over governance at the Israel-based group.

European government bonds shot higher on Tuesday after Mario Draghi ramped up his signals that he is prepared to cut interest rates or buy more eurozone debt if growth fails to pick up.

The percentage of families living in poverty in Italy rose to a record high last year as a prolonged economic stagnation and persistent high unemployment continued to take their toll on the country.

Activist investor Land & Buildings on Tuesday lambasted a proposed leveraged buyout of retailer Hudson’s Bay Company, characterising an offer to take the group private as “woefully inadequate”.

Royal Bank of Scotland, the first of the UK’s lenders to open a standalone digital bank, has appointed a chief executive who is well versed in fintech for the online business-focused unit that it plans to launch as an app in August.

President Donald Trump hit out at Mario Draghi on Tuesday, accusing the European Central Bank president of purposely weakening the euro with his suggestion that the eurozone economy may need additional stimulus.