Seoul Gazette - Stocks climb awaiting next moves in Trump trade war

London led the way in Europe, up one percent in midday deals, as trading resumed after Monday's UK public holiday.

The dollar gained solidly against main rivals, while Wall Street reopens later after US Memorial Day.

"US futures point to a higher open on indices, as optimism spreads after the holiday break," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"Trump once again has pressed the pause button, this time on proposed 50 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union, which caused nervousness at the end of last week."

Trump on Sunday delayed 50-percent tariffs on the European Union until July 9 to give more time for negotiations.

The president had sent markets into a tailspin Friday when he threatened to hit EU goods with the huge tariff from June 1 as talks were "going nowhere".

EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said Monday following calls with top US officials that the bloc remains "fully committed" to reaching a trade agreement with the United States.

A key survey Tuesday showed that consumer sentiment in Europe's biggest economy, Germany, inched up heading into June -- but erratic US trade policy and a glum domestic economic outlook kept the gauge at low levels.

The forward-looking indicator, published by pollsters GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions, came in at minus 19.9 points, a rise of 0.9 from the previous month.

It was the third-straight increase for the regular survey of about 2,000 people, which has been boosted by a new German government vowing to kickstart the country's economy following two years of recession.

It was revealed Tuesday that Germany had overtaken Japan as the world's top creditor, with the Asian nation losing top spot after a 34-year reign.

Japan's net external assets as of the end of last year stood at 533.05 trillion yen ($3.7 trillion), up almost 13 percent from a year earlier, according to finance ministry data.

For Japan, a weaker yen contributed to increases in both foreign assets and liabilities, but assets grew at a faster pace, driven in part by expanded business investment abroad, the data added.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, oil prices rose slightly on the eve of the latest OPEC+ meeting to decide on crude output levels from the cartel and its partners, notably Russia.

- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,807.27 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,855.88

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 24,220.99

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 37,724.11 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 23,381.99 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,340.69 (close)

New York - Dow: Closed Monday for a holiday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1349 from $1.1382 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3540 from $1.3563

Dollar/yen: UP at 144.07 yen from 142.81 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.88 pence from 83.91 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $64.30 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $61.69 per barrel

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T.Gil--SG