NEW YORK: MSCI`s global equities index was barely higher on Friday while Wall Street trading was choppy and the dollar lost ground as a US trade deal with Britain fueled guarded optimism for US tariff negotiations with China and other countries.

MSCI`s broadest index of world shares rose rose 1.14 points, or 0.13pc, to 846.99 while US indexes were close to flat.

On Wall Street, at 02:46 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86.14 points, or 0.22pc, to 41,279.12, the S&P 500 fell 0.84 points, or 0.03pc, to 5,662.35 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 7.29 points, or 0.04pc, to 17,920.50.

Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index finished up 0.44pc while Germany`s Dax stock index ended up 0.63pc for a record closing high.

In currencies, the dollar was down on the day but eying a weekly gain against major currencies, including the Swiss franc, yen and euro on optimism about upcoming US-China talks. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.29pc to 100.36.

The euro up 0.25pc on the day at $1.1255 and against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.42pc to 145.29.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin eyed its fourth straight day of gains, up 0.67pc to $103,317.75.-Reuters