The China Mail - Wall Street lifted on fresh hopes for Trump's tariff approach

Investor sentiment has been jolted in recent weeks by fears that the president's hardball policies could deal a painful blow to the global economy.

Wednesday next week is now the focus of attention, with Trump labelling it "Liberation Day" as he prepares to unveil a raft of what he calls "reciprocal" measures to impose tariffs on other countries.

US stocks on Monday opened positively and maintained their upward momentum mid-session with the Nasdaq adding two percent, the S&P rising by 1.7 percent and the DOW gaining 1.3 percent.

"US stock index futures were firmer this morning, indicating a return of investor risk appetite," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation financial services provider.

"The positive start was helped by a more conciliatory tone from President Trump concerning existing tariffs, and those threatened in the future," he added.

Bloomberg News reported that the US administration was considering a more targeted approach to the tariffs, with some countries being hit harder than others, and the measures not being as severe as initially feared.

That came after the president on Friday told reporters that "there'll be flexibility" in his plans.

Those expectations helped European markets open buoyantly on Monday. But that sentiment had dissipated by the afternoon, with London, Paris and Frankfurt all losing ground, albeit modestly.

“It’s going to be another choppy week for markets with tariffs once again dominating risk appetite,” said AJ Bell, head of financial analysis firm Danni Hewson.

Markets also digested purchasing managers' index (PMI) data that showed business activity in the eurozone increased for the third consecutive month in March.

The closely watched survey also showed that UK business activity hit a six-month high, a glimmer of good news for Britain's struggling economy.

However, positive sentiment has been tempered as the US Federal Reserve last week warned of "uncertainty around the economic outlook".

Asian markets fluctuated through the day, with Tokyo falling while Hong Kong and Shanghai rose.

Chinese electric carmaker BYD's shares rebounded by three percent with news that the company made more than $100 billion in 2024.

Its price had dropped more than eight percent on Friday following a report that the European Commission was conducting a foreign subsidy investigation into its plant in Hungary.

Jakarta dived more than four percent at one point, extending a recent sell-off fuelled by worries about Southeast Asia's biggest economy that has seen the country's main index lose around 15 percent since the turn of the year.

Gold slid back slightly, to around $3,010 an ounce (28.3 grammes), having hit a series of records last week to a peak of more than $3,057 owing to a surge in demand for safe havens.

Prices may start heading back the other way, though, according to Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at StoneX financial services.

"Moving forward, the gold forecast may not be as strong as the first months of the year," he said. "We think that the pace of the buying could at least slow, if not reverse."

- Key figures around 1645 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 42,510.24 points

New York - S&P: UP 1.6 percent 5,757.84

New York - Nasdaq: UP 2.0 percent at 18,137.31

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,638.01

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,021.98

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 22,856.01

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 37,608.49 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 23,905.56 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,370.03 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0824 from $1.0815 on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2903 from $1.2918

Dollar/yen: UP at 150.58 yen from 149.36 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.62 pence from 83.72 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $69.20 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $73.06 per barrel

G.Fung--ThChM