Trump's cooler China talk calms sentiment, gold hits record highs

World markets found steadier ground on Monday after being whipsawed by broadsides in the US-China trade war, while gold hit new record highs in a sign that uncertainty remained high.

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While US President Donald Trump had threatened 100 tariffs on China from November land Beijing said it could take countermeasures, he sounded more conciliatory on Sunday, posting that the US did not want to “hurt” China.

European shares were broadly higher, while US stock futures also firmed although trading was subdued by a holiday in Japan and the United States.

France remained in the spotlight with reappointed prime minister Sebastien Lecornu facing pressure to get a budget deal across the line.

“The stabilisation in markets is encouraging,” said Rory McPherson, chief investment officer at Wren Sterling in London.

“Given everything that is going on with the (US government) shutdown, and political turmoil in France and Japan, markets have been strong. A pullback would be healthy.”

Beijing defended on Sunday its curbs on exports of rare earth elements and equipment as a response to US aggression, but stopped short of imposing new levies on US products.

Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius said that while he still expected an extension of the current tariff pause, recent developments suggested a wider range of outcomes was possible.