TOKYO (Reuters) - Global stocks recovered to three-week highs on Friday as anticipated strong earnings season took center stage after U.S. President Donald Trump backtracked on his suggestion of an imminent missile attack on Syria.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS ticked up 0.1 percent while Japan's Nikkei .N225 gained 0.8 percent.
MSCI’s broadest gauge of the world’s stock markets .MIWD00000PUS also edged up 0.1 percent after hitting a three-week high on Thursday.
In New York, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.83 percent, led by a 1.83 percent gain in financials .SPSY after strong quarterly results from BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) boosted optimism for corporate earnings.
The earnings season begins in earnest on Friday with reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N).
Analysts expect quarterly profit for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.4 percent from a year ago, in what would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The mood improved also after Trump tweeted an attack on Syria “could be very soon or not so soon at all,” allaying fears of an immediate military action that investors fear could lead to wider conflict between Washington and Moscow.
In another change of tack, Trump has asked his trade advisers to look at re-joining the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade pact he withdrew the United States from early last year.
“Markets have been pushed around by Trump. His modus operandi seems to do anything that seems to
