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Japanese tech investor SoftBank Group, a major player in the US Stargate artificial intelligence drive, on Tuesday posted a $7.8 billion annual net profit, its first in the black for four years.Global market rallies were a boon to SoftBank, which reaped gains from its investments in the likes of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and US telecom firm T-Mobile.Its 1.15 trillion yen ($7.8 billion) net profit for the 12 months to March 2025 was up from a net loss of 227 billion yen in the previous financial year.The company’s earnings often swing dramatically because it invests heavily in tech start-ups and semiconductor firms, whose share prices are volatile.Tuesday’s result marked its first full-year net profit since the 2020-21 financial year.The group’s Vision Fund investment vehicle also saw the values of its stakes in Tiktok operator ByteDance and South Korean e-commerce service Coupang jump.SoftBank has been betting big on AI under its flamboyant founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who has repeatedly said “artificial superintelligence” will arrive in a decade — bringing new inventions, medicine and ways to invest.The company is leading the $500 billion Stargate project to build AI infrastructure in the United States along with cloud giant Oracle and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.But Bloomberg News reported this week that uncertainty fuelled by US trade tariffs has delayed financing talks for the project, citing people familiar with the matter.- AI push -SoftBank and OpenAI also announced in February that the Japanese giant would spend $3 billion annually to deploy OpenAI’s technologies across its group companies.SoftBank’s Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto told reporters that it enjoys strong ties with OpenAI and said trade tariffs should not hinder the group’s operations.In March, SoftBank said it had reached a deal to buy US semiconductor firm Ampere for $6.5 billion, reinforcing its aggressive push into AI. The purchase is expected to close in the second half of the year.The Japanese company is a majority shareholder in Arm Holdings, whose technology is used in 99 percent of smartphones.Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at brokerage Toyo Securities, told AFP ahead of Tuesday’s announcement that he expected the firm to reveal strong figures.”The market was not bad from January to March, so I think (the results) will land relatively well,” he said.”The market environment only worsened from the end of March to the beginning of April when the tariffs were announced,” he said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s multi-pronged free trade war.Son, 67, made his name with successful early investments in Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba and internet pioneer Yahoo.But he has also bet on catastrophic failures such as office-sharing firm WeWork.”For the last 20 years, the US market has been outstanding, so I don’t think there was an option to not invest in the United States” for SoftBank, Yasuda said.During that time the Chinese market was also growing, “so they invested in China — but China has tightened up a lot of controls, so not much has been invested in China since then”, he added.

Most stocks extended gains Tuesday as investors basked in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension that has fuelled hopes the world’s two economic superpowers will step back from a punishing trade war.Equity markets across the world rallied with oil and the dollar Monday after the two sides said they would slash most of their eye-watering tit-for-tat levies and hold talks to end a standoff that has stoked recession fears.The news raised hopes that deals can be done with Washington to cut or even remove some of the tolls unveiled by Donald Trump on his “Liberation Day” on April 2 that sent shivers through trading floors and raised concerns about the global trading system.Top-level negotiators said after two days of talks in Geneva at the weekend that the United States would reduce its 145 percent duties on China to 30 percent for 90 days, while Beijing would cut its retaliatory measures to 10 percent from 125 percent.The US president described the move as a “total reset” and said talks with counterpart Xi Jinping could soon follow, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC he expected officials would meet again in the coming weeks to reach “a more fulsome agreement”.After piling higher on the news Monday, most of Asia’s markets started Tuesday on the front foot. Tokyo was up more than one percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila were also well up.London, Paris and Frankfurt edged up in early trade.However, Hong Kong dropped nearly two percent, having surged three percent the day before. Mumbai also slipped.The dollar also pulled back from the previous day’s rally, though oil reversed early losses to extend Monday’s advance.The broad gains in Asia came after Wall Street greeted the announcement with open arms.The tech-heavy Nasdaq rocketed more than four percent, the S&P 500 jumped 3.3 percent and the Dow 2.8 percent, while a gauge of US-listed Chinese stocks surged more than five percent.”Clearly, US-China trade talks have yielded much faster success than many had expected,” strategists at HSBC wrote in a note.”There’s very clearly upside risk for the broader risk asset spectrum now as markets will likely extrapolate a higher likelihood of further deals in the coming weeks.”However, nervousness remains.The HSBC strategists added: “These may not move in a straight line. Things could easily turn out a bit bumpier in future trade negotiations.”IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said the talks show “both sides are aware of the need to repair their relationship, and avoid further damage from the imposition of such huge tariffs”. “But even at the pause levels of 10 percent and 30 percent, these tariffs are still much higher than anything imagined by investors just a few months ago. “It is not quite six weeks since these tariffs were introduced — the impact has yet to really appear in both economic data and company earnings. The full impact will only become clear with time.”Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler warned that even with the reduction in tariffs, Trump’s trade policies will likely push inflation higher and weigh on economic growth.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.4 percent at 38,183.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,108.27 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,374.87 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,608.90 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.91 yen from 148.38 yen on MondayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1114 from $1.1089Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3210 from $1.3173Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.14 pence from 84.18 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $62.06 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $65.04 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 2.8 percent at 42,410.10 (close)

Japan’s Honda Motor on Tuesday forecast a 70 percent drop in net profit for the 2025-26 financial year as US trade tariffs weigh on the global auto industry.The announcement comes after rival Toyota, the world’s top-selling carmaker, predicted a 35 percent year-on-year drop in annual net profit because of the levies and other factors.Honda said it expected net profit of 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) in the 12 months to March 2026.”Tariff impact and recovery efforts” will have a negative effect on operating profit, it warned, estimating they will cost the company around 450 billion yen over the year.In an attempt to rev up the US auto industry, President Donald Trump last month imposed a 25 percent toll on imported vehicles, dealing a major blow to Japanese carmakers.”The impact of tariff policies in various countries on our business has been very significant, and frequent revisions are being made, making it difficult to formulate an outlook,” CEO Toshihiro Mibe told reporters Tuesday.Mibe said Honda would examine the impact of US tariffs on supply chains and “carefully” make any decisions on pricing changes.Honda, Japan’s second-biggest automaker after Toyota, logged net profit of 835 billion yen in the past financial year, a drop of almost 25 percent on-year and well short of its February forecast of 950 billion yen. “Our automobile business experienced a decline in sales volume mainly in China and the ASEAN region” in Southeast Asia, Mibe said. It was also “impacted by increased incentives for EV sales in North America”, although “hybrid vehicle sales expanded”.But Honda may still have a better chance of weathering Trump’s tariff onslaught than its competitors in Japan, analysts said.Late last month Trump softened the auto tariffs by signing an executive order to limit the impact of overlapping levies on carmakers.He also said he would give the industry a two-year grace period to move supply chains back to the United States.This is good news for Honda, which builds more than 60 percent of the vehicles it sells in the United States in the country.That is “the highest percentage” of all major Japanese automakers, Bloomberg Intelligence auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida told AFP ahead of the results. That means the impact from tariffs will be “comparatively smaller for Honda”, he added.Also on Tuesday, Honda said it would postpone by two years a project announced last month to establish an electric vehicle supply chain in Canada.The postponement was due to “flagging EV demand”, with the resumption of the project possible depending on how market trends develop, the company said.

Most Asian stocks extended gains Tuesday as investors continued to bask in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension that has fuelled hopes the world’s two economic superpowers will step back from a punishing trade war.Equity markets across the world rallied with oil and the dollar Monday after the two sides said they would slash most of their eye-watering tit-for-tat levies and hold talks to end a standoff that has stoked recession fears.The news raised hopes that deals can be done with Washington to cut or even remove some of the tolls unveiled by Donald Trump on his “Liberation Day” on April 2 that sent shivers through trading floors and raised concerns about the global trading system.Top-level negotiators said after two days of talks in Geneva at the weekend that the United States would reduce its 145 percent duties on China to 30 percent for 90 days, while Beijing would cut its retaliatory measures to 10 percent from 125 percent.The US president described the move as a “total reset” and said talks with counterpart Xi Jinping could soon follow, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC he expected officials would meet again in the coming weeks to reach “a more fulsome agreement”.After piling higher on the news Monday, most of Asia’s markets started Tuesday on the front foot. Tokyo was up more than one percent with Taipei, while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington and Manila were also well up.However, Hong Kong dropped more than one percent, having surged three percent the day before.Oil prices and the dollar also pulled back from the previous day’s rally.The broad gains in Asia came after Wall Street greeted the announcement with open arms.The tech-heavy Nasdaq rocketed more than four percent, the S&P 500 jumped 3.3 percent and the Dow 2.8 percent, while a gauge of US-listed Chinese stocks surged more than five percent.”Clearly, US-China trade talks have yielded much faster success than many had expected,” strategists at HSBC wrote in a note.”There’s very clearly upside risk for the broader risk asset spectrum now as markets will likely extrapolate a higher likelihood of further deals in the coming weeks.”However, nervousness remains.The HSBC strategists added: “These may not move in a straight line. Things could easily turn out a bit bumpier in future trade negotiations.”And IG chief market analyst said the talks show “both sides are aware of the need to repair their relationship, and avoid further damage from the imposition of such huge tariffs”. “But even at the pause levels of 10 percent and 30 percent, these tariffs are still much higher than anything imagined by investors just a few months ago. “It is not quite six weeks since these tariffs were introduced — the impact has yet to really appear in both economic data and company earnings. The full impact will only become clear with time.”Meanwhile, Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler warned that even with the reduction in tariffs, Trump’s trade policies will likely push inflation higher and weigh on economic growth.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 38,296.86 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 23,273.82Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,375.51Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.01 yen from 148.38 yen on MondayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1103 from $1.1089Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3177 from $1.3173Euro/pound: UP at 84.25 pence from 84.18 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $61.81 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $64.80 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 2.8 percent at 42,410.10 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,604.98 (close)

The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, an outcome President Donald Trump dubbed a “total reset” as he said talks with counterpart Xi Jinping could soon follow.After the first meetings between Washington and Beijing since Trump ratcheted up his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations.The announcement sent financial markets soaring after weeks of turmoil over tariff fears. Major Wall Street indexes surged, with the broad-based S&P 500 closing 3.3 percent higher.”Yesterday we achieved a total reset with China after productive talks in Geneva,” Trump said. “I’ll speak to President Xi, maybe at the end of the week.”US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described weekend discussions with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust” with both sides anticipated to meet again soon.Trump’s fresh duties on many imports from China came up to 145 percent this year, compared to 10 percent for other countries in a global tariff blitz launched last month.Beijing hit back with duties of 125 percent on US goods.The United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent.These actions take effect at 12:01 am on Wednesday, according to an executive order released by the White House.The United States also lowered a levy on low-value imports from China that had hit e-commerce sites such as Shein and Temu. Under Trump’s executive order, “de minimis” items sent through the US Postal Service will be hit with duties of 54 percent of their value, or a $100 payment. The prior tariff had been set at 120 percent.Bessent told CNBC Monday that he expects United States and Chinese representatives to meet again in the coming weeks to work out “a more fulsome agreement.”While Washington does not want broad decoupling from China, it seeks “decoupling for strategic necessities,” Bessent said.He added to CNBC that the 90-day pause was also done to see what the United States could do about non-tariff barriers weighing on US firms. China hailed the “substantial progress” made at the talks, held at the discreet villa residence of Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.This move “is in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world,” the Chinese commerce ministry said, adding that it hoped Washington would keep working with Beijing “to correct the wrong practice of unilateral tariff rises.”With the agreement, China also committed to suspending or removing non-tariff countermeasures.- Fentanyl ‘cooperation’ -The US additional tariff rate remains higher than China’s because it includes a 20 percent levy over Trump’s complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters.”Those remain unchanged for now,” he said. But “both the Chinese and United States agreed to work constructively together on fentanyl and there is a positive path forward there as well.”In a joint statement, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.””I think we leave with a very good mechanism to avoid the unfortunate escalations,” Bessent said, noting that the tariffs had essentially created a trade “embargo” between the two superpowers.China’s commerce ministry said both parties “will conduct rolling consultations on a regular or ad hoc basis in China, the US or agreed third countries.”- ‘No guarantee’ -A suspension of higher tariffs marks “substantial de-escalation,” said Capital Economics chief Asia economist Mark Williams in a note.But “there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire,” he warned. Washington appears to be seeking to rally others towards introducing restrictions on trade with China, he said.Nonetheless, the latest development signals negotiations are moving to a more conciliatory phase, according to a Deutsche Bank Research note.Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, believes the outcome of the weekend meeting was a “success” for Beijing.”China took a tough stance on the US threat of high tariffs and eventually managed to get the tariffs down significantly without making concessions,” he said.Trump’s tariffs and high rates targeting China have rocked financial markets, raising fears the levies would rekindle inflation and cause a global economic downturn.The Geneva meeting came days after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first with any country since his new duties on both friend and foe.burs-nl-bys-jmb/dw

Stock markets, the dollar and oil prices all rallied Monday after the United States and China declared a 90-day truce in their trade war.Wall Street’s main stock indices jumped at the start of trading and held steady much of the day before finishing with a flourish. The broad-based S&P 500 ended up 3.3 percent.”Stocks are surging, safe havens are rapidly declining, and expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts have been dramatically scaled back,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.”The market was not expecting the big change to US and China tariff rates, which is very positive for the outlook for the US and the global economy,” she added.Hong Kong’s stock market closed up three percent in reaction.Paris led the way in Europe, gaining 1.4 percent, while Frankfurt notched yet another record high, although it later gave up most of its gains.The big gainer in the French capital was luxury giant LVMH, the maker of Louis Vuitton handbags, whose shares gained seven percent.The dollar rallied against the euro, yen and British pound, while oil prices also moved solidly higher.Investors have been on a rollercoaster ride since US President Donald Trump unveiled tariffs on global trading partners on April 2.Trump had hit China with the heftiest measures — 145 percent tariffs that prompted Beijing to impose retaliatory rates of 125 percent.However, after two days of highly anticipated negotiations in Geneva, the two countries hailed progress towards ending a crisis that fuelled fears of a global recession.In a joint statement, the United States said it would reduce levies to 30 percent while Chinese tariffs on American goods would be cut to 10 percent for 90 days starting on May 14.”There isn’t any hangup at the moment about this not being a permanent change,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”Market participants simply care that it represents a major de-escalation and a move to a tariff area that is at least workable for US businesses and the global trade order.”But Karsten Junius at bank J. Safra Sarasin urged caution.”We expect financial markets to remain volatile over the coming months, as they have almost fully priced out negative economic surprises and could once again be disrupted by more serious obstacles in trade negotiations,” he noted.”In all likelihood, things may still get worse before they get better.”Investors are also awaiting the release this week of data on US inflation and retail sales, which will provide a fresh snapshot of the world’s biggest economy since the tariffs were first unveiled.- Key figures at around 2220 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 2.8 percent at 42,410.10 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 3.3 percent at 5,844.19 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 4.4 percent at 18,708.34 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 7,850.10 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 23,566.54 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,604.98 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 37,644.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.0 percent at 23,549.46 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,369.24 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1089 from $1.1250 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3173 from $1.3306Dollar/yen: UP at 148.38 yen from 145.37 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.18 pence from 84.58 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.6 percent at $64.96 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 3.2 percent at $61.95 per barrelburs-jmb/mlm

The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, an outcome President Donald Trump dubbed a “total reset” as he said a call with counterpart Xi Jinping could soon follow.After the first talks between Washington and Beijing since Trump launched his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations.The announcement sent financial markets soaring after weeks of turmoil over tariff fears, with major Wall Street indexes surging.”Yesterday we achieved a total reset with China after productive talks in Geneva,” Trump said. “I’ll speak to President Xi, maybe at the end of the week.”US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described weekend discussions with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust” with both sides anticipated to meet again soon.”Both sides showed a great respect,” Bessent told reporters.Trump’s fresh duties on many imports from China came up to 145 percent this year, compared to 10 percent for other countries in a global tariff blitz launched last month.Beijing hit back with duties of 125 percent on US goods.The United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent.Bessent told CNBC Monday that he expects United States and Chinese representatives to meet again in the coming weeks to work out “a more fulsome agreement.”While Washington does not want broad decoupling from China, it seeks “decoupling for strategic necessities” that the country had trouble obtaining during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bessent said.He added to CNBC that the purpose of the 90-day pause was also to see what the United States could do about non-tariff barriers weighing on US firms. China hailed the “substantial progress” made at the talks, held at the discreet villa residence of Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.This move “is in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world,” the Chinese commerce ministry said, adding that it hoped Washington would keep working with Beijing “to correct the wrong practice of unilateral tariff rises.”- Fentanyl ‘cooperation’ -The US additional tariff rate remains higher than China’s because it includes a 20 percent levy over Trump’s complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters.”Those remain unchanged for now,” he said. But “both the Chinese and United States agreed to work constructively together on fentanyl and there is a positive path forward there as well.”In a joint statement, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.””I think we leave with a very good mechanism to avoid the unfortunate escalations,” Bessent said, noting that the tariffs had essentially created a trade “embargo” between the two superpowers.”The nature of what has happened since April 2 could have been avoided if we had had this kind of mechanism in place,” he added.China’s commerce ministry said both parties “will conduct rolling consultations on a regular or ad hoc basis in China, the US or agreed third countries.”- ‘No guarantee’ -A suspension of higher tariffs marks “substantial de-escalation,” said Capital Economics chief Asia economist Mark Williams in a note.But “there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire,” he warned. Washington has higher levies on China than on other countries and appears to be seeking to rally others towards introducing restrictions on trade with China, he said.Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, believes the outcome of the weekend meeting was a “success” for Beijing.”China took a tough stance on the US threat of high tariffs and eventually managed to get the tariffs down significantly without making concessions,” he said.Trump’s tariffs and high rates targeting China have rocked financial markets, raising fears the levies would rekindle inflation and cause a global economic downturn.The Geneva meeting came days after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first with any country since his new duties on both friend and foe.burs-nl-bys/des

The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn.After their first talks since US President Donald Trump launched his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the weekend discussions with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust”, while both sides are anticipated to meet again soon.”Both sides showed a great respect,” Bessent told reporters.Trump’s fresh duties on many imports from China came up to 145 percent compared to 10 percent for other countries in the global tariff blitz he launched last month.Beijing hit back with duties of 125 percent on US goods.The United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent.Bessent told CNBC Monday that he expects United States and Chinese representatives to meet again in the coming weeks to work out “a more fulsome agreement”.While Washington does not want a broad decoupling from China, “what we do want is a decoupling for strategic necessities” the country had trouble obtaining during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bessent said.He added to CNBC that the purpose of the 90-day pause was also to see what the United States could do about non-tariff barriers weighing on US firms. China hailed the “substantial progress” made at the talks, which were held at the discreet villa residence of Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.”This move… is in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world,” the Chinese commerce ministry said, adding that it hoped Washington would keep working with China “to correct the wrong practice of unilateral tariff rises”.Stock markets and the dollar, which tumbled after Trump unleashed global tariffs, rallied on the announcement.- Fentanyl ‘cooperation’ -The US tariff rate remains higher than China’s because it includes a 20-percent levy put in place over US complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters.”Those remain unchanged for now,” he said, adding though that “both the Chinese and United States agreed to work constructively together on fentanyl and there is a positive path forward there as well”.In their joint statement, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations”.”I think we leave with a very good mechanism to avoid the unfortunate escalations,” Bessent said, noting that the tariffs had essentially created a trade “embargo” between the two superpowers.He added that “the nature of what has happened since April 2 could have been avoided if we had had this kind of mechanism in place”. The Chinese commerce ministry said “the two sides will conduct rolling consultations on a regular or ad hoc basis in China, the US or agreed third countries”.- ‘Uncertainties’ remain -Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said in a note the outcome of the weekend meeting was particularly a “success” for Beijing.”China took a tough stance on the US threat of high tariffs and eventually managed to get the tariffs down significantly without making concessions,” he said.Wang Wen, Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said the agreement had “exceeded expectations”, hailing “the biggest easing of tensions… since the global tariff war” began.He cautioned though that “uncertainties” remained, warning that without progress over the next 90 days “it is possible that the tariff war will resume”.The trade dispute between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets, raising fears the tariffs would rekindle inflation and cause a global economic downturn.The Geneva meeting came days after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first with any country since his flurry of new tariffs on both friend and foe.The head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, praised the talks on Sunday as a “significant step forward”.burs-nl-bys/st

Pakistan stocks surged Monday with the benchmark index nine percent higher after a weekend ceasefire agreement with neighbour India following days of confict. The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened at 117,104.11 points, up 9,929.48 points, or 9.26 percent, prompting an hour-long trading suspension because limits had been reached.”Today’s sharp surge in the stock market stems from a powerful convergence of bullish triggers that have swiftly turned investor sentiment from fear to opportunity,” Sana Tawfiq, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, Pakistan’s largest securities brokerage, told AFP.The jump also comes on the back of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approving a Pakistan loan-programme review, unlocking around $1 billion in much-needed funds and greenlighting a new $1.4 billion bailout despite India’s objections.”We are very pleased today that the market has performed extremely well,” Ahmed Chinoy, director of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited, told AFP, while celebrating by cutting a cake with brokers.”This positive shift is reinforced by the IMF’s dual approvals, providing both critical funding and international validation of Pakistan’s reform path,” Tawfiq added.US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks by India and Pakistan which killed at least 60 people.In a series of posts on social media, Trump also pledged to increase trade with both nations.”While optimistic, sustaining momentum requires ceasefire compliance, accelerated reforms, and managing global headwinds like oil prices,” senior economist Sanie Khan told AFP.A policy rate cut by the country’s central bank was also seen as a positive factor boosting equity flows.

Stocks rallied Monday after Chinese and US officials made “substantial progress” at trade talks in Geneva and slashed their tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, fuelling hopes the two sides will pull back from a standoff that has rattled global markets.Investors have been on a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump unveiled eye-watering tolls on trading partners on April 2, with the heftiest saved for Beijing, raising concerns of a trade war between the economic superpowers.The US president eventually hiked the measures against China to 145 percent, which were met with retaliatory rates of 125 percent.However, there have been signs of an easing of tensions and after two days of highly anticipated negotiations in Geneva, the two countries hailed progress towards ending a crisis that fuelled fears of a global recession.On Monday the two said they would slash their levies to cool tensions and give officials time to resolve their differences.In a joint statement, the US side said it would reduce tolls to 30 percent while Chinese tariffs on American goods would be cut to 10 percent.That came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang in the first known talks since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement.”We’ve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Bessent told reporters, while the White House has hailed what it called a new “trade deal”.China on Monday also hailed “substantial progress”, with the commerce ministry saying the move “is in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world”.Tai Hui, Asia-Pacific chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, said: “The magnitude of this tariff reduction is larger than expected. This reflects both sides recognising the economic reality that tariffs will hit global growth and negotiation is a better option going forward.”The 90-day period may not be sufficient for the two sides to reach a detailed agreement, but it keeps the pressure on the negotiation process.”Hong Kong led Asian markets higher, jumping three percent, while Shanghai — which closed before the tariff cuts were announced — also enjoyed healthy buying interest.Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei and Wellington were all in the green.Paris and Frankfurt rose more than one percent, while London was also higher.US futures surged more than one percent.Mumbai jumped more than three percent after India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire at the weekend following four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks between the two countries which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing.Pakistan’s stock exchange rocketed more than nine percent.Oil prices, meanwhile, jumped more than two percent on speculation that the easing of China-US tensions would help demand.The dollar also advanced one percent against the euro and yen.Gold, which rallied last month over a rush to safe havens, extended losses.”The initial reaction to the weekend US-China talks (is) predictably encouraging,” said Chris Weston at Pepperstone. However, Karsten Junius at Bank J. Safra Sarasin was cautious.”We expect financial markets to remain volatile over the coming months, as they have almost fully priced out negative economic surprises and could once again be disrupted by more serious obstacles in trade negotiations,” he said in a commentary.”In all likelihood, things may still get worse before they get better.”Investors are also awaiting the release this week of data on US inflation and retail sales, which will provide a fresh snapshot of the world’s biggest economy since the tariffs were first unveiled.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 37,644.26 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.0 percent at 23,549.46 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,369.24 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 8,593.36 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1102 from $1.1257 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3166 from $1.3308Dollar/yen: UP at 147.99 yen from 145.31 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.31 pence from 84.57 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $62.60 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 percent at $66.51 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 41,249.38 (close)