The Latest: Trump optimistic despite haze around China trade
By Associated Press
Dec 5, 2018 8:36 AM CST
A woman walks past an electronic board showing Hong Kong share index outside a local bank in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Shares were moderately lower in Asia on Wednesday following a bloodletting on Wall Street as goodwill generated by a truce between the U.S. and China over trade evaporated...   (Associated Press)

BEIJING (AP) — The latest on China-U.S. trade developments (all times local):

9:37 a.m.

President Donald Trump is expressing optimism that China will to push forward with a cease fire on trade as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalates.

Trump tweeted early Wednesday that Beijing is sending "very strong signals" about a new trade framework since returning from talks over the weekend in Buenos Aires.

China's Commerce Ministry did say on its website that it would begin "implementing specific issues on which consensus has been reached," but the vague statement included no details.

Global markets did not express the same optimism, selling off in both Europe and Asia. U.S. markets are closed Wednesday in honor of former President George H.W. Bush, who died Friday.

However, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 800 points Tuesday over confusion about what the U.S and China will do going forward, and investors are looking for hints as what to expect Thursday when markets open again.