European Shares Seen Opening Up As Trump Signals Tariff Flexibility

(RTTNews) - European stocks look set to open higher on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said there will be "flexibility" on his reciprocal tariff plan and that he would discuss tariffs with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the reciprocal tariffs are likely to be narrower in scope and will exclude some industry-specific duties.

Trump also expressed optimism about reaching a deal between Russia and Ukraine, adding his administration will sign a rare earths deal with Ukraine "very shortly."

Meanwhile, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said in a speech on Friday the U.S. central bank's monetary policy is in the right place and there's no urgency to make any changes to interest rates, given the myriad uncertainties facing the economy.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee also argued for the Fed standing aside until more clarity emerged.

Amid much uncertainty about the economic outlook, investors look ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation along with other reports on durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims and new and pending home sales this week for further direction.

The manufacturing and services flash PMI for March for the U.S., the U.K. and the Euro zone will be released later in the day.

Asian markets were mixed while gold was marginal lower amid dollar strength. Oil prices dipped as investors await the outcome of a meeting between U.S. and Russian delegations to discuss ceasefire plan for Russia-Ukraine war.

The Canadian dollar was steady after Prime Minister Mark Carney called a snap election for April 28. The focus was also on the political upheaval in Turkey after a key opposition politician was formally arrested.

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher on Friday, after having fallen sharply earlier following downbeat comments from both FedEx and Nike about the economic outlook.

All three major averages fell by nearly 1 percent earlier in the day before closing higher as President Trump indicated he'd retain 'flexibility' when it comes to a reciprocal tariff plan expected on April 2.

The S&P 500 edged up by 0.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added half a percent to snap four-week losing streaks while the Dow ended on a flat note.

European stocks fell on Friday amid much uncertainty over trade tensions and geopolitical conflicts.

The pan European STOXX 600 declined 0.6 percent. The German DAX dropped half a percent while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both shed around 0.6 percent.