London (AFP) - US stock markets rose but Europe was mixed Thursday as investors weighed strong tech earnings and hopes that the latest flare-up in US-China trade tensions might ease.

Wall Street opened higher, Europe’s main markets moved in different directions in afternoon deals and Asia closed largely in the green.

Equities have been in flux since US President Donald Trump last week reignited his tariff row with Beijing, threatening 100 percent levies on Chinese goods in retaliation for its recent rare-earth export controls.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to take a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday, suggesting that a longer pause in their tariffs was possible as they look to resolve the rare earths row.

He also said Trump still plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.

“The general feeling is that last Friday’s tariff tantrum was overdone, particularly as it seems that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping will go ahead with a planned meeting later this month,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at trading platform Trade Nation.

“In addition, some see President Trump’s more conciliatory tone towards China is yet another example of his success as a dealmaker,” he said.

“To others it’s a perfect example of this year’s ‘TACO’ meme. In other words, and perhaps unfairly, when push comes to shove, Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope markets, warned that China could “turn up the pressure by further deepening the trade conflict in the knowledge that it could spark a sharp slump in US equity markets”.

Investors were also reacting to another record net profit at Taiwanese tech titan TSMC, which was buoyed by soaring demand for microchips that power iPhones and artificial intelligence.

“So far, it has been a good earnings season, which has helped to justify stock markets at these elevated levels,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com.

Nestle shares surged eight percent after the Swiss food giant announced that it will cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years.

In Europe, the Paris stock market was up 0.9 percent in afternoon trade as French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived a no-confidence vote.

London dipped following data that showed lacklustre growth in the UK economy, six weeks ahead of the government’s annual budget.

Concerns over China-US tensions, bets on US rate cuts and a weaker dollar have helped push gold to daily records. It hit a peak of $4,243.25 on Thursday.

Oil prices rose as Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him that New Delhi will stop buying Russian oil.

- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,361.18 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,692.11

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 22,764.40

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 9,405.51

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 8,152.66

Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 24,192.44

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 48,277.74 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 25,888.51 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,916.23 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP $1.1655 from $1.1645 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3430 from $1.3400

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 151.17 yen from 151.24 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.79 percent from 86.90 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $62.20 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $58.11 per barrel