US PRESIDENT Donald Trump repeated his optimistic tone towards the prospect of striking a trade deal with Beijing in the near future, telling reporters that 'they [China] very much want to make a deal' and that it will be 'a very fair deal for everybody.' 'We've had a very good discussions with China, we're getting much closer to doing something,' said President Trump.

US markets edged up on the president's remarks, despite earlier swings following a report by Bloomberg that the White House was drawing up plans for a China trade deal, which was subsequently denied by Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council.

'There's no mass movement, there's no huge thing. We're not on the cusp of a deal,' Mr Kudlow told CNBC.

Mr Kudlow is a. financial analyst and former television host and was appointed by President Trump earlier this year. He began his career as a junior financial analyst at the New York Federal Reserve, leaving government to work at Paine Webber and Bear Stearns.