The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks climbed on Monday morning as traders became hopeful that Donald Trump's forthcoming tariffs will be more measured than previously suggested.

It comes after the president dubbed 2 April “Liberation Day” for the US, when he will unveil his so-called reciprocal tariffs on countries he perceives to be giving America a bad deal on trade.

However, late last week, Trump hinted that he could take a flexible approach. Speaking in the Oval Office, he said: “I don’t change. But the word flexibility is an important word. Sometimes it’s flexibility. So there’ll be flexibility, but basically it’s reciprocal.”

Daniel Murray, chief executive officer of EFG Asset Management in Zurich, said: “Markets have taken some comfort from news that the next stage of the Trump administration’s tariff regime will involve targeted tariffs.

"This raises the possibility that some sectors and countries may fare better than others, helping explain market optimism.”

London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.5% higher in early trade Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) climbed 0.6% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.5% into the green The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.4% Wall Street is set for a positive start as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green. The pound was 0.2% up against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.2943 Key companies reporting this week: GameStop, Lululemon, Kingfisher, Bellway and Fevertree

FTSE Index - Delayed Quote•USD

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Asia stocks overnight

Stocks were mixed in the Asia-Pacific markets with the Nikkei (^N225) falling 0.2% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) rose 0.9% in Hong Kong. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.2% up by the end of the session.

Early morning data showed that the Japanese au Jibun Bank manufacturing PMI fell to 48.3 in March from 49.0 in February, contracting for a ninth consecutive month. The decline was led by softer overseas demand for goods.

At the same time, service activity shrank for the first time in 5 months, falling to 49.5 in March from 53.7 in the prior month.

Following the data release, the Japanese yen drifted lower for the third successive day trading 0.3% down at around 149.83 against the dollar.

It comes as US equity futures are moving higher on tariffs hopes. 53 mins ago

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Coming up...

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. We are back with a busy week ahead and ready to bring you all the latest markets news and everything that's happening across the global economy.

Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today:

7am: Trading updates: S4 Capital, Braemar Shipping 9am: Flash Eurozone PMI report for March 9.30am: UK PMI report for March 12.30pm: United States Chicago Fed National Activity Index 1.45pm: US PMI report for March

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