Trade tensions, weather are key concerns in week ahead

IN THE trade spat between the US and China, the only certainty seems to be uncertainty, as the US sent conflicting messages over the past week about its plans to resolve the conflict.

Global markets picked up towards the end of last week when news broke on Thursday that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had extended an invitation to Chinese officials to restart trade talks.

However, hopes for a fruitful session were undermined by US President Donald Trump's tweet later the same day that the US had the upper hand in the talks and was "under no pressure to make a deal".