Journal De Bruxelles - Stocks edge out gains as fears ease over next Trump tariffs

The Dow closed little-changed while the broad-based S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day slightly higher following a rally fueled by technology stocks the previous day.

Europe enjoyed greater momentum with Paris, Frankfurt and Milan adding just north of one percent at the close while London sputtered to end with a 0.3 percent advance.

"Sentiment continues to wane among investors, consumers and businesses as economic concerns and economic policy uncertainty takes its toll," said eToro US investment analyst Bret Kenwell.

Kenwell added that "until there's more certainty on the tariff and macro front, sentiment and confidence remain vulnerable."

The market was initially buoyed by indications from the White House that a glut of levies due next week would be less severe than feared.

Trump has dubbed April 2 "Liberation Day" as he pledges to impose reciprocal tariffs on trading partners in an effort to remedy practices that Washington deems unfair.

"Tariff fears subsided a touch after President Trump suggested that the reciprocal tariffs promised next week may be smaller in scope than many had feared," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

"But without specific guidance over what will, and what won't, be included, investors remain on edge," Morrison added.

Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG trading group, said markets expect that the next phase of tariffs "will be more organized and structured than previous actions."

Whatever numbers are announced "are likely to be negotiated down from there," Sycamore said.

For now, in the United States, consumer confidence slipped for a fourth straight month in March, reaching the lowest level since the midst of the pandemic in 2021.

The US consumer confidence index dropped 7.2 points to 92.9, The Conference Board said, noting that survey respondents flagged growing concerns about the economic impact of Trump's trade and tariff plans.

Positivity on European markets came on the back of data revealing that German business confidence rose in March, as a massive government spending plan promised to get Europe's largest economy rolling once again.

Asian markets closed mixed as traders focused on more domestic matters, while the dollar dropped awaiting US inflation data this week that could firm expectations of fresh cuts to interest rates this year in the world's biggest economy.

Hong Kong sank 2.4 percent, weighed by a drop of around six percent in Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, which raised $5.5 billion in a mega share sale as it looked to expand its electric vehicle business.

The deal, which comes after a similar move this month by EV firm BYD, stoked worries about market liquidity.

Among individual stocks, shares in British energy giant Shell added just over one percent after announcing plans to slash costs by billions of dollars and increase shareholder returns.

Tesla shares dipped more than two percent but pulled back into the green as industry data showed its sales in Europe sank almost by half in the first two months of the year amid anger over Elon Musk's political positions.

- Key figures around 2030 GMT -

New York - Dow: FLAT at 42,587.50 points (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,776.65 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.5 percent at 18,271.86 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,663.80 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.1 percent at 8,108.59 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.1 at 23,109.79 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 37,780.54 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.4 percent at 23,344.25 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,369.98 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0791 from $1.0805 on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2943 from $1.2924

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.90 yen from 150.58 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.37 pence from 83.58 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $73.02 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $69.00 per barrel

dan-bcp-cw-bys/sst

A.Parmentier--JdB