The Japan Times - Stocks gain tracking tech, Fed and trade

Nearing the half-way stage in Europe, London and Paris advanced while Frankfurt dipped, following also news that the European Union and India had struck a free trade deal.

Brushing off South Korea-US tariff concerns, Asian stocks markets were buoyed by "hopes of strong earnings from the US tech heavyweights in the next couple of days", said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive investor.

Tech firms are enjoying a fresh boost ahead of earnings releases as traders continue to pile into all things artificial intelligence.

Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla give updates this week, with other bellwethers including Texas Instruments, Boeing and Mastercard providing an idea about the state of the US economy.

However, concerns remain over the scale of investment in AI, leaving some nervousness on trading floors about when profits will be realised.

Investors attention was also on the Federal Reserve's policy meeting starting Tuesday.

The US central bank is Wednesday widely expected to maintain the level of its key interest rates.

"Markets aren't expecting any changes to lending rates, but markets will be watching keenly to see if Chair (Jerome) Powell, who's kept a tight grip on monetary policy, is to be replaced by a Trump dove," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

US President Donald Trump has meanwhile reverted back to tariff threats this week, warning South Korea he would impose 25 percent tolls on goods including autos for falling short of expectations on an earlier pact struck with Washington.

The announcement comes months after the two sides struck a trade and security deal following tense negotiations, setting levies at 15 percent.

Still, Seoul's Kospi continued its run to fresh record highs by jumping 2.8 percent, with observers pointing to Trump's history of rowing back the worst of his threats.

While carmakers slipped, tech firms ploughed higher with chipmaking giant SK hynix up 8.7 percent and Samsung Electronics up 4.8 percent.

Trump's outburst follows a warning to Canada on Saturday that it faced 100 percent levies if it signed a trade deal with China.

That came days after the president backed down from a threat to hit several European countries with measures over their opposition to his grab for Greenland.

There were also big gains in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Mumbai advanced after India and the European Union unveiled a free-trade deal totalling about a quarter of global GDP, following two decades of negotiations.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the agreement "will bring many opportunities for India's 1.4 billion and many millions of people of the EU".

The dollar remained under pressure after a selloff sparked by talk of a joint intervention between US and Japanese authorities to support the yen.

Shares in German sportswear brand Puma climbed strongly in Frankfurt with Chinese athletic goods giant Anta Sports set to purchase a leading stake in the company.

But although posting a rise of almost 11 percent Puma stock, at 23.80 euros, was quoted far below the 35 euros per share that Anta is paying for its 29-percent stake.

This, analysts said, reflects investor caution about the group's chances of turning its fortunes around, after seeing its market capitalisation plunge by about a third over the past year.

- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,207.38 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,143.44

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 24,902.16

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 53,333.54 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.4 percent at 27,126.95 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 4,139.90 (close)

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.64 yen from 153.98 yen on Monday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1892 from $1.1883

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3704 from $1.3682

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.77 pence from 86.85 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $64.94 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $60.86 per barrel

Y.Kato--JT