LONDON - World stocks remained near record highs on Thursday, after the United States and China signed the first phase of an agreement to end their 18-month trade tension.

MSCI's broadest index of world stocks was up 0.1%. London, Frankfurt, Paris helped Europe start stronger, after China's biggest stocks dipped overnight.

Japan's Nikkei ended 0.07% higher and Chinese mainland's Shanghai composite index fell 0.5% in its third day of losses. Hong Kong, Australia, India and Vietnam all gained.

Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 29,000 for the first time.

US shares are now trading above 18 times expected earnings, near post-2008 financial crisis peak in 2018.

Bond yields dropped as a boost from the trade deal failed to offset low US producer price data, which highlighted persistently low inflationary pressure. The price index rose less than expected in December to cap 2019 with rise of 1.3%, the lowest since 2015.

Ten-year US Treasury yields slipped to one-week low of 1.780% compared with a high of 1.900% last Thursday and last stood at 1.80%.

Most euro zone bond yields were little changed, with German Bund yields just below two-week highs. The UK's 10-year gilt was yield near a two-and-a-half-month low at 0.65% on the talk of rate cuts..

Brent crude futures rose 0.7% to US$64.45 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.73% to US$58.23 per barrel. Gold was little changed at US$1,555 an ounce.