SYDNEY, Australia — Wall Street stock futures climbed and the dollar firmed against safe haven peers on Monday as signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks raised hopes that a global recession might be avoided, though specifics were still sorely lacking. Geopolitical tensions also looked to be easing as a fragile ceasefire held between India and Pakistan, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday for talks. Over in Geneva, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent touted “substantial progress” in trade discussions, while Chinese officials said the two sides had reached “important consensus” and agreed to launch another new economic dialogue forum. A joint statement is expected later on Monday, though it was notable that neither side mentioned tariff rates specifically. “What we seem to have here, then, is a broad framework under which the two nations can conduct further talks, with the aim of reaching a broader trade agreement,” said Michael Brown, a senior research strategist at Pepperstone. “Not the worst-case outcome that was possible from this weekend’s talks, far from it, but not a concrete deal either,” he added. “Does this progress allow for any tariffs to be paused, reduced or rolled back, and if so for how long?” Investors are hoping the White House will soon scale back the 145% tariff on Chinese goods, even if only back to the 60% first flagged by President Donald Trump. Trump still seems wedded to keeping broad tariffs in place no matter what, which will drag on economic growth and push up prices, but any trade progress could help dodge a sharp downturn. Markets reacted by pushing S&P 500 futures up 1.2%, while Nasdaq futures rose 1.4%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures firmed 0.9%, while FTSE futures added 0.4% and DAX futures 0.7%. Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.3%, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4%. Chinese blue chips firmed 0.8%, though data over the weekend showed factory-gate prices posted the steepest drop in six months in April while consumer prices fell for a third month. The dollar added 0.4% on the safe haven yen to reach 145.90, though it was off an early five-week peak of 146.31. The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.1224 and the dollar index edged up 0.2% to 100.60. The dollar also dipped 0.2% on the offshore Chinese yuan to 7.2278, and back toward last week’s low of 7.1846.

U.S. Treasury yields moved higher on Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs on each other’s goods, in a move welcomed by investors. At 5:09 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield was up nearly 6 basis points to 4.433%, while the 2-year Treasury yield jumped 10 basis points to 3.996% One basis point is equal to 0.01% and yields and prices move in opposite directions.The U.S. and China negotiated a trade deal to lower tariffs, with both countries announcing on Monday the suspension of most levies implemented on each other’s imports. Tariffs between both countries will come down from 125% to 10%, according to the terms of the deal. The U.S.′ 20% duties on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl are still in place, bringing total tariffs on China to 30% currently. Previously U.S. tariffs on China stood at 145%, while China implemented 125% levies on U.S. goods. “We had very productive talks and I believe that the venue, here in Lake Geneva, added great equanimity to what was a very positive process,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news conference, after holding talks in Switzerland with China’s trade representatives over the weekend. “We have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially move down the tariff levels. Both sides on the reciprocal tariffs will move their tariffs down 115%,” Bessent said. Investors will also be looking ahead to a batch of economic data this week, which will offer an outlook on how trade tensions have impacted the economy since U.S. President Donald Trump implemented “reciprocal” tariffs on global trade partners in early April. Investors will parse through the consumer price index reading for April, due on Tuesday morning. They will also await the producer price index and retail sales data on Thursday.

GENEVA — The U.S. treasury secretary and America’s top trade negotiator began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland Saturday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. China’s Xinhua News Agency says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks wasn’t made public. However, a motorcade of black cars and vans was seen leaving the home of the Swiss Ambassador to the United Nations in the wealthy Swiss city, and a diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting, said the sides met for about two hours before departing for a previously arranged luncheon. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim. But there is hope that the two countries will scale back the massive taxes — tariffs — they’ve slapped on each other’s goods, a move that would relieve world financial markets and companies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that depend on U.S.-China trade. U.S. President Donald Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries’ boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion. Even before the talks began, Trump suggested Friday that the U.S. could lower its tariffs on China, saying in a Truth Social post that “ 80% Tariff seems right! Up to Scott.” Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, noted it will be the first time He and Bessent have talked. She doubts the Geneva meeting will produce any substantive results. “The best scenario is for the two sides to agree to de-escalate on the ... tariffs at the same time,” she said, adding even a small reduction would send a positive signal. “It cannot just be words.” Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively used tariffs as his favorite economic weapon. He has, for example, imposed a 10% tax on imports from almost every country in the world. But the fight with China has been the most intense. His tariffs on China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States. The remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trump’s first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%. During Trump’s first term, the U.S. alleged that China uses unfair tactics to give itself an edge in advanced technologies such as quantum computing and driverless cars. These include forcing U.S. and other foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market; using government money to subsidize domestic tech firms; and outright theft of sensitive technologies. Those issues were never fully resolved. After nearly two years of negotiation, the United States and China reached a so-called Phase One agreement in January 2020. The U.S. agreed then not to go ahead with even higher tariffs on China, and Beijing agreed to buy more American products. The tough issues — such as China’s subsidies — were left for future negotiations. But China didn’t come through with the promised purchases, partly because COVID-19 disrupted global commerce just after the Phase One truce was announced. The fight over China’s tech policy now resumes. Trump is also agitated by America’s massive trade deficit with China, which came to $263 billion last year. In Switzerland, Bessent and Greer also plan to meet with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter. Trump last month suspended plans to slap hefty 31% tariffs on Swiss goods -- more than the 20% levies he plastered on exports from European Union. For now, he’s reduced those taxes to 10% but could raise them again. The government in Bern is taking a cautious approach. But it has warned of the impact on crucial Swiss industries like watches, coffee capsules, cheese and chocolate. “An increase in trade tensions is not in Switzerland’s interests. Countermeasures against U.S. tariff increases would entail costs for the Swiss economy, in particular by making imports from the USA more expensive,” the government said last week, adding that the executive branch “is therefore not planning to impose any countermeasures at the present time.” The government said Swiss exports to the United States on Saturday were subject to an additional 10% tariff, and another 21% beginning Wednesday. The United States is Switzerland’s second-biggest trading partner after the EU — a 27-member-country bloc that nearly surrounds the wealthy Alpine country of more than 9 million. U.S.-Swiss trade in goods and services has quadrupled over the last two decades, the government said. The Swiss government said Switzerland abolished all industrial tariffs on Jan. 1 last year, meaning that 99% of all goods from the United States can be imported into Switzerland duty-free.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A passenger bus skidded off a cliff in Sri Lanka’s tea-growing hill country on Sunday, killing 21 people and injuring 35 others, a police spokesman said. The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town of Kotmale, about 86 miles east of Colombo, the capital, in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka, police said. Police spokesman Buddhika Manathunga said 21 people died and another 35 were being treated in hospitals. Local television showed the bus lying overturned at the bottom of a precipice while workers and others helped remove injured people from the rubble. The driver was injured and among those admitted to the hospital for treatment. At the time of the accident, nearly 50 people were traveling on the bus. Manathunga said police launched an investigation to ascertain whether the driver’s recklessness or a technical fault of the bus caused the accident. The bus was operated by a state-run bus company, police said. Deadly bus accidents are common in Sri Lanka, especially in the mountainous regions, often due to reckless driving and poorly maintained and narrow roads.

A ceasefire to end the conflict between India and Pakistan was shaken by overnight border fighting in the disputed Kashmir region. People on both sides of the Line of Control, which divides the territory, reported heavy exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops. The fighting subsided by Sunday morning. The two countries agreed to a truce a day earlier after talks to defuse the most serious military confrontation between them in decades following a gun massacre of tourists that India blames on Pakistan, which denies the charge. As part of the ceasefire, the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to immediately stop all firing and military action on land, in the air and at sea. They accused each other of repeatedly violating the deal just hours later. Drones were spotted Saturday night over Indian-controlled Kashmir and the western state of Gujarat according to Indian officials. In the Poonch area of Indian-controlled Kashmir, people said the intense shelling from the past few days had traumatized them. “Most people ran as shells were being fired,” said college student Sosan Zehra who returned home Sunday. “It was completely chaotic.” In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir’s Neelum Valley, which is three kilometers from the Line of Control, people said there were exchanges of fire and heavy shelling after the ceasefire began. Resident Mohammad Zahid said: “We were happy about the announcement but, once again, the situation feels uncertain.” U.S. President Donald Trump was the first to post about the deal, announcing it on his Truth Social platform. Indian and Pakistani officials confirmed the news shortly after. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday with top government and military officials. India, unlike Pakistan, has not said anything about Trump or the U.S. since the deal was announced. Nor has India acknowledged anyone beyond its military contact with the Pakistanis. Pakistan has thanked the U.S and especially Trump several times for facilitating the ceasefire. On Sunday, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the deal as a positive step toward ending current hostilities and easing tensions. “He hopes the agreement will contribute to lasting peace and foster an environment conducive to addressing broader, longstanding issues between the two countries,” added Dujarric. India and Pakistan have engaged in daily fighting since Wednesday along the rugged and mountainous Line of Control, which is marked by razor wire coils, watchtowers and bunkers that snake across foothills populated by villages, tangled bushes and forests. They have routinely blamed the other for starting the skirmishes, while insisting they themselves were only retaliating. India and Pakistan’s two top military officials are due to speak again on Monday. Kashmir is split between the two countries and claimed by both in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars over the region and their ties have been shaped by conflict, aggressive diplomacy and mutual suspicion, mostly due to their competing claims.

A ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, announced by President Donald Trump earlier today, has allegedly been violated by Pakistan. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the Indian army is retaliating against the border intrusion. The conflict follows a recent terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir, which India blames on Pakistan—a claim Pakistan denies. Both countries continue to assert full territorial claims over Kashmir, fueling ongoing tensions. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared victory during a press conference today, notably omitting any acknowledgement of the alleged ceasefire violation by his country. “The army and whole Pakistani nation has become successful, and we have won. This is victory,” Sharif said. Sharif expressed gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump for his “pivotal and paramount role” in the ceasefire, but emphasized that Pakistan's efforts are far from over. “We will not be sitting in peace until Pakistan will not — until Pakistan gets its lost integrity back and by God’s grace, and that time is not far away In a post on X, Omar Abdullah, India's chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said earlier today he heard explosions in the region in the hours after the ceasefire was announced. "What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!" Abdullah wrote, adding: "This is no ceasefire. The air defence units in the middle of Srinagar just opened up." The Indian government has accused Pakistan of violating the ceasefire agreement, saying it was breached within hours of the deal. "This intrusion is extremely condemnable and Pakistan is responsible for it," said Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. "We believe that Pakistan should understand this situation properly and take appropriate action immediately to stop this intrusion." Misri said the "Indian Army is retaliating and dealing with this border intrusion."

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan said that India fired missiles at three air bases inside the country Saturday but most of the missiles were intercepted and that retaliatory strikes on India were underway. It’s the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan. The Pakistani military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and airbases in Pathankot and Udhampur. Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said that Pakistan's air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes. He added that some of the Indian missiles also hit India’s eastern Punjab. “This is a provocation of the highest order,” Sharif said. There was no immediate comment from India. State-run Pakistan Television reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body responsible for overseeing the country’s missile program and other strategic assets. Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir on Friday. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio continued to urge both parties to “find ways to deescalate and offered U.S. assistance in starting constructive talks” in order to avoid future conflicts. The call for calm came ahead of Saturday’s Indian missile strikes, which targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to Pakistan’s military spokesman. There was no media access to the air base in Rawalpindi, a densely populated city, and no immediate reports of residents hearing or seeing the strike or its aftermath. Following the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places in the region, including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur. “Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.” Vaid said explosions were heard from areas with military bases, adding it appeared that army sites were being targeted. Srinagar appeared calm early Saturday but some residents in neighborhoods close to the city’s airport, which is also an air base, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of fighter jets. “I was already awake but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. They started crying,” said Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin, adding he heard at least two explosions. Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group for India, said the two countries were at war even if they had not yet labelled it as one. “It’s become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship with no apparent strategic end goals from either side,” said Donthi. “With increasing civilian casualties on both sides, finding an exit or off-ramp is going to be challenging.” India’s army said it destroyed multiple armed Pakistani drones that were spotted flying over a military cantonment in northern Punjab state’s Amritsar city early Saturday. “Pakistan’s blatant attempt to violate India’s sovereignty and endanger civilians is unacceptable.” the statement said. In Pakistan, the civil aviation authority said the country’s airports were shut for all flight operations. “Thank God we have finally responded to Indian aggression,” said Muhammad Ashraf, who had headed out for breakfast in the eastern city of Lahore. The Indian army said late Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across many areas in Indian states bordering Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, including Srinagar. It said the drones were tracked and engaged. “The situation is under close and constant watch, and prompt action is being taken wherever necessary,” the statement added. India and Pakistan have traded strikes and heavy cross-border fire for days, resulting in civilian casualties on both sides. The Group of Seven nations, or G7, urged “maximum restraint” from India and Pakistan. It warned Friday that further military escalation posed a serious threat to regional stability.

HONG KONG — The United States and China announced a 90-day pause on most of their recent tariffs on each other, fueling hopes on Wall Street of a cooldown in the trade war between the world's two largest economies. The combined U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports will be cut to 30% from 145%, while China’s levies on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125%, the countries said early Monday morning. Officials met in Geneva over the weekend for their first face-to-face talks since President Donald Trump's shock tariff rollout on April 2, when he imposed 84% duties on Chinese imports, adjusted them to to 125% soon afterward, and hiked them further to 145% a day later. The new 30% rate is the sum of the 20% duty Trump imposed early in his second term over alleged Chinese failures to curb fentanyl flows and the 10% universal tariff he has applied to nearly all foreign imports. Markets surged on news of the detente. The broad-based S&P 500 was trading 3.1% higher Monday afternoon, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added more than 1,100 points, a roughly 2.7% gain. The tech-focused Nasdaq surged 4.1%. European indexes posted modest gains Monday. Markets across Asia had upbeat sessions as well ahead of the news, anticipating some kind of trade agreement and also welcoming a ceasefire between India and Pakistan that largely seems to be holding. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index soared on news of the U.S.-China agreement, closing more than 3% higher. Yet some analysts have urged caution, noting that tariffs remain far higher than before Trump regained office. That suggests many consumer goods — from cars and groceries to fireworks — are set to see price hikes. Federal data is set to provide a fresh inflation snapshot on Tuesday morning. “The full set of U.S. tariffs would still be considerably higher and broader than expected by markets at the start of the year,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note to clients Monday, noting that the 90-day countdown “should keep uncertainty high for both investors and businesses.” The U.S.'s effective tariff rate would now be 17.8%, the highest since 1934, which Yale Budget Lab researchers estimated Monday would dent households' annual purchasing power by $2,800. The United States has a larger goods trade deficit with China than with any other country, and Trump has often accused it of “ripping off” the U.S. through unfair trade practices. Unlike other U.S. trading partners, Beijing responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs and other countermeasures that escalated into a dizzying game of one-upmanship. The dueling import taxes were “the equivalent of an embargo,” which neither side wanted, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “We do want trade, we want more balanced trade, and I think that both sides are committed to achieving that,” he said. Bessent, who represented the U.S. in the talks with Beijing along with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, rejected suggestions that negotiating right away would have been more productive than triggering a tariff spat that caused global financial turmoil, saying that a “business as usual” effort to rebalance trade would not have worked. The U.S. and China now have “a mechanism to avoid the upward tariff pressure,” Bessent told CNBC Monday. “I would imagine that in the next few weeks we will be meeting again to get rolling on a more fulsome agreement,” he added. Greer noted that separate discussions on fentanyl were “on a very positive track.

Global technology and chip stocks rallied on Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to pause most tariffs on each other’s goods. Technology stocks — such as semiconductor firms and smartphone makers — have been hit hard as trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies threatened to disrupt supply chains and hurt some of the biggest U.S. businesses. But investors breathed a sigh of relief after talks between the U.S. and China over the weekend yielded a temporary pause in “reciprocal” tariffs. In the U.S., Nvidia, which still faces a number of restrictions on the chips it is allowed to ship to China, was around 4% higher in premarket trade, while AMD was up 5%. Broadcom was also around 5% higher, along with Qualcomm. Other companies in the semiconductor supply chain also jumped. Marvell, which last week postponed a previously scheduled investor day due to macroeconomic uncertainty, surged 7.5% in premarket trade. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest chipmaker, saw its U.S.-listed shares jump around 4% in the premarket. TSMC’s Taiwan-listed stock closed before the tariff announcement. In Europe, ASML, a supplier of critical machinery required to manufacture the most advanced chips, rallied 4.5% in early trade. Infineon was also sharply higher. Semiconductors and some electronics received an exemption from President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs last month, but the U.S. signaled the reprieve was temporary and that these products could still be in line for special duties. Investors have been concerned about the impact on major tech stocks, especially those with exposure to China such as Apple and Amazon, whose shares have been under pressure this year. Apple, which still makes 90% of its iPhones in China, said during its earnings report this month that it expects tariffs will add $900 million to its costs for the current quarter. Apple shares were more than 6% higher. Amazon was up more than 8% in premarket trade Monday. Many sellers on Amazon rely on Chinese products. U.S.-listed Chinese tech stocks also surged. Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com were higher, alongside internet firm Baidu. “With US/China clearly on an accelerated path for a broader deal we believe new highs for the market and tech stocks are now on the table in 2025 as investors will likely focus on the next steps in these trade discussions which will happen over the coming months,” Daniel Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Monday. “This morning is a huge win for the bulls and a best case scenario post this weekend in our view.”

TOKYO — Eighty-five years after his ticket was first issued for a similar event, a man was allowed to use it at this year's World Expo in Japan. Fumiya Takenawa attended Expo 2025 in the city of Osaka with a ticket that was originally issued for the Grand International Exposition of Japan in 1940, the organizers of this year's event said said in a statement on Monday. They added that the original event did not take place because of Japan’s “intensifying war” in the region. Takenawa, 25, bought the old ticket in March in an online sale, he told Japan’s Mainichi newspaper, adding that he likes collecting things from old expos and had initially used it as home decoration. But after wondering whether it could be used for this year's event, he said he approached the organizers who agreed he could use it. “This is my first expo, and I feel part of history,” he said, adding that he visited the Czech and Saudi Arabian pavilions at the expo. “The person who had this ticket before me waited 85 years, and now their wish finally came true,” he said. Although he lives in Tokyo, he said he would like to revisit the expo when he travels to Osaka to see his family. The Expo, also known as World’s Fair, showcases scientific, technological, economic, and social progress from around the planet. Launched in 1851 London’s Crystal Palace, it is now held every five years in different locations under the supervision of an intergovernmental organization. The event in 1940 is known as the “phantom Expo” as it never happened, the organizers said, adding that those with tickets for it have previously been allowed to attend the 1970 expo in Osaka and the 2005 expo in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi. Other people with tickets from the canceled expo in 1940 would also be able to attend, they said. Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo, and Julia Zhong reported from Hong Kong.