Europe: Stocks rise on historic Trump-Kim summit

[LONDON] Europe's stock markets rose at the open on Tuesday, as investors responded warmly to US President Donald Trump's historic Singapore summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.

In initial trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies advanced almost 0.3 per cent to 7,757.89 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.6 per cent to 12,924.03 points and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.4 per cent to 5,494.83, compared with the closing levels on Monday.

"The market focus of the world is focused on the events taking place in Singapore, with history being made today as Donald Trump became the first sitting American president to meet face-to face with a North Korean leader," said analyst Lukman Otunuga at traders FXTM.

"The market reaction has been mostly positive, and this sentiment is likely to continue with the expectance that President Trump and Kim Jong Un are to discuss the future of Pyongyang's nuclear programme."

Mr Trump said Tuesday that he has formed a "special bond" with Mr Kim, at the end of a historic meeting during which the two former foes pledged to meet again.

The pair signed what Mr Trump called a "pretty comprehensive" and "very important" document, which spoke of "new US-DPRK relations" and committed Washington to "security guarantees".

However, asked about denuclearisation - the crux of the summit, Mr Trump said "we're starting that process", adding that it would begin "very, very quickly."

For his part, Mr Kim said the two Cold War foes had vowed to "leave the past behind", pledging "the world will see a major change."

AFP