The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks rose on Monday, while Asian equities slid overnight, after US president Donald Trump took some of the sting out of renewed trade hostilities between the US and China.

Trump reignited his trade war at the end of last week by threatening an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, in response to Beijing enforcing tighter export controls on rare earth materials, which are vital in the production of everything from cars to solar panels.

But on Sunday he signalled he would be open to talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping.

He wrote on Truth Social: “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”

Richard Galvin, co-founder of hedge fund DACM, said the rebound in Europe was “driven by a conciliatory message from Trump”.

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However, stock markets in Asia tumbled overnight, with Chinese exports to the US falling 27% in September from the year before, even as growth in its global exports hit a six-month high.

Figures released today showed China’s worldwide exports came in 8.3% higher than a year ago at $328.5bn, surpassing economists’ estimates. This was better than the 4.4% year-on-year increase in August.

Goldman Sachs (GS) chief economist Jan Hatzius said he expects that both sides will eventually agree to extend their tariff pause beyond the 10 November deadline amid “limited concessions from both sides”.

“However, the recent policy moves suggest a wider range of outcomes than was the case ahead of prior US-China talks, with the possibility of greater concessions but also a risk of substantial new export restrictions and higher tariffs, at least temporarily,” he added.

Defence stocks were under pressure during the session with Babcock (BAB.L), BAE Systems (BA.L) and Rolls Royce (RR.L) at the bottom of the UK basket. Fresnillo (FRES.L) was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after a short squeeze for silver.

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  • London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.1% higher in early afternoon trade.

  • Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.2% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.2% into the green. France’s Sébastien Lecornu announced a new cabinet on Sunday after his reappointment as prime minister last week, helping to at least temporarily avoid a full-blown political crisis in Paris.

  • The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.3%.

  • Wall Street is set for a positive start as Trump signalled an openness to a deal with China. S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green.

  • The pound was around 0.1% down against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3338.

  • Key companies reporting this week: JPMorgan, TSMC, Infosys, ASML and Bellway.