Star Metro - Asian stocks gain after China teases US tariff talks

US markets forged higher Thursday following strong results from tech giants Microsoft and Meta that helped offset lingering economic worries.

Apple reported first-quarter profit above expectations but warned that US tariffs could cost the company and were disrupting its supply chain.

And Amazon reported a nine percent rise in first-quarter revenue, but its outlook fell as potential impact from the US-China trade war rattled investors.

Washington's punishing levies reached 145 percent on many Chinese products in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.

On Friday, China's commerce ministry said it was evaluating a US offer for negotiations on tariffs, but wanted Washington to show "sincerity" and be ready to scrap levies that have roiled global markets and supply chains.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs, and this week said he believed there was a "very good chance we're going to make a deal".

Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said Beijing and Washington were now "waving detente flags" in their spiralling trade war.

Beijing's demand for sincerity was an apparent call to ditch the 145 percent rate, before holding serious talks, Innes said in a note Friday.

"But dig a layer deeper, and the path is still littered with landmines," he added.

In Asia trading Friday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up more than one percent in the morning, while Japan's main Nikkei index gained about 0.6 percent.

Japan's envoy for US tariff talks said in Washington on Thursday that a second round of negotiations between the two countries had been "frank and constructive".

Japan, a key US ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10 percent baseline tariffs imposed on most nations plus steeper levies on cars, steel and aluminium.

The Bank of Japan warned earlier that tariffs were fuelling global economic uncertainty and revised down its growth forecasts while keeping its key interest rate steady.

Traders are looking ahead Friday to US jobs data for April for indications of the US central bank's path for interest rates.

- Key figures at around 0220 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 36,677.95

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.2 percent at 22,386.08

Shanghai - Composite: closed for holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1297 from $1.1289 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3295 from $1.3277

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.43 yen from 145.44 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.98 pence from 85.02 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $59.75 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $62.62 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 40,752.96 (close)

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,496.80 (close)

burs-sco/rsc

S.Belanger--SMC