Signs of a possible thaw in trade tensions helped drive global markets higher on Friday after Beijing said it was “evaluating” recent overtures from Washington on starting trade talks. China’s commerce ministry said the US had recently “conveyed messages to China through various channels, expressing a desire to engage in discussions”. “China is currently evaluating this,” the ministry spokesperson said. Global equities rallied, with Taiwan’s Taiex climbing 2.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rising 1.8 per cent and Europe’s Stoxx 600 index gaining 1 per cent. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.5 per cent. The Wall Street benchmark has been buoyed by strong Big Tech earnings this week and is on the brink of erasing all of its losses since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff blitz on April 2 sent global markets into a tailspin. “The peak of uncertainty may be over,” said Wee Khoon Chong, a senior strategist at BNY. Asian currencies rallied against the dollar on signs of easing trade tensions. China’s offshore renminbi climbed 0.5 per cent to Rmb7.4 while the Korean won strengthened 1.9 per cent to Won1,406. The Taiwanese dollar led gains as it surged 4.1 per cent. Friday’s statement marks a slight softening of Beijing’s stance from last week, when it said Washington would need to drop its steep levies on China for talks to begin, and was first signalled by a social media account tied to state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday. Beijing said its position had not changed. “China emphasises that in any possible dialogue or negotiation, if the US fails to correct its erroneous unilateral tariffs, it would indicate a complete lack of sincerity and would further erode mutual trust,” the spokesperson said. “If it is talks, the door is wide open,” the ministry said. “If it is a fight, we’ll see it through to the end.” The remarks from Beijing came as the US and Japan agreed to aim to have a trade deal ready by June. Wall Street earnings also helped buoy sentiment in Taiwan and South Korea, home to the chip manufacturers essential for the continuing build-out of artificial intelligence servers.

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