Seoul Gazette - Stocks higher as traders weigh China-US row, tech earnings

Wall Street was mostly higher in late morning trading, with Europe's main markets ending the day higher and Asian markets largely in the green.

Equities have been in flux since US President Donald Trump last week reignited his tariff row with Beijing, threatening 100 percent levies on Chinese goods in retaliation for its recent rare-earth export controls.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to take a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday, suggesting that a longer pause in tariffs was possible as they look to resolve the rare earths row.

He also said Trump still plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.

"The general feeling is that last Friday's tariff tantrum was overdone, particularly as it seems that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping will go ahead with a planned meeting later this month," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at trading platform Trade Nation.

"In addition, some see President Trump's more conciliatory tone towards China is yet another example of his success as a dealmaker," he said.

"To others it's a perfect example of this year's 'TACO' meme. In other words, and perhaps unfairly, when push comes to shove, Trump Always Chickens Out."

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope markets, warned that China could "turn up the pressure by further deepening the trade conflict in the knowledge that it could spark a sharp slump in US equity markets".

Investors were also reacting to another record net profit at Taiwanese tech titan TSMC, which was buoyed by soaring demand for microchips that power iPhones and artificial intelligence.

"So far, it has been a good earnings season, which has helped to justify stock markets at these elevated levels," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com.

Nestle shares surged more than nine percent after the Swiss food giant announced that it will cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years.

In Europe, the Paris stock market climbed 1.4 percent as French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived a no-confidence vote.

London edged out a gain despite data that showed lacklustre growth in the UK economy, six weeks ahead of the government's annual budget.

Concerns over China-US tensions, bets on US rate cuts and a weaker dollar have helped push gold to daily records, with it climbing pas $4,270 per ounce on Thursday.

"Gold seems set to clock a record fifth consecutive closing high, defying all expectations of a pullback," said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at trading platform IG.

"The move has catapulted gold to global fame, and if the queues seen in many cities are any indication, then the recent move seems set to continue," he added.

Oil prices rose as Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him that New Delhi will stop buying Russian oil.

- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -

New York - Dow: FLAT at 46,245.97 points

New York - S&P 500: UP less than 0.1 percent at 6,675.95

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 22,738.70

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,436.09 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 8,188.59 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 24,272.19 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 48,277.74 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 25,888.51 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,916.23 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP $1.1669 from $1.1645 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3428 from $1.3400

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.76 yen from 151.24 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.94 percent from 86.90 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $62.06 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $57.99 per barrel

G.Seong--SG