The Japan Times - Stock markets rise 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 of next week is now the focus of attention, with Trump labelling it "Liberation Day" as he prepares to unveil a raft of supposedly "reciprocal" measures to counter those in other countries.

"Expectations are growing that they (tariffs) could be tweaked and be more focused on specific goods and sectors, instead of swathes of duties triggered in a blanket fashion," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

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 have helped lift market sentiment, with London, Paris and Frankfurt all rising on Monday.

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 that "uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased" while the central banks of Japan and Britain also warned about the impact of the White House's policies.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the weekend that Beijing was readying for "shocks that exceed expectations" ahead of the latest tariff measures, adding that "instability and uncertainty are on the upswing".

His comments came as he met heads of some of the world's biggest companies, including Apple, Qualcomm, FedEx and Pfizer.

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

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 held at around $3,035 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.

- Key figures around 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,665.21

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,061.21

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 23,010.90

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)

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 41,985.35 points (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0845 from $1.0815 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2967 from $1.2918

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.61 yen from 149.36 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.69 pence from 83.72 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $68.70 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $72.57 per barrel

K.Okada--JT