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As traders consider Trump tariffs, stocks gain and the dollar falls

The U.S. Dollar remained tepid as markets awaited clarity about President Donald Trump's policy on trade ahead of next week's new tariffs.

The White House gave traders some hope that it would be flexible after Trump announced on Monday that some levies wouldn't come by the deadline of April 2, and certain countries would receive breaks without giving further details.

Trump also opened a second front in his trade conflict by directing 25% secondary tariffs to any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela. This initially sent oil costs higher, but its impact was somewhat offset by relief from Black Sea security agreements struck by the U.S. during the war in Ukraine.

The Nikkei 225 index in Japan rose by 0.35% and the KOSPI in South Korea rose by 0.37%.

Australian stocks rose 0.76%. Consumer price data that was lower than expected provided some additional support. The Australian dollar fell 0.1% to $0.6298.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.8%. Blue chips in China were flat.

U.S. S&P futures were 0.08% higher, after the cash index had a 0.16% increase overnight.

Kyle Rodda is a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. He said that there was a high level of anxiety among the markets ahead of the Trump administration's announcement on trade policy next week.

"However this is eased a bit by the comments made by President Obama about more narrow and targeted trade restrictions."

The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures currency against six major counterparts, grew 0.07%. This was after the U.S. dollar index fell 0.12% on Monday, its first loss in over a week.

Last week, it was at a five-month-low of 103.19 due to fears that Trump's Trade War could lead to a U.S. Recession.

Consumer confidence has plummeted to its lowest level in over four years, according to data released overnight.

The dollar rose 0.16%, to 150.16 Japanese yen. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda stated on Wednesday that inflation has not yet been sufficiently achieved by the central bank, signaling a possible slower rate of interest rate increases.

The yield on Japanese 10-year government bonds has also risen to its highest level since 2008.

The euro fell 0.09%, to $1.0782. Sterling dropped 0.1%, to $1.2931.

Gold slipped slightly to $3,019. This week, it has been lagging behind the record high of 3,057.21 that was reached on Thursday.

Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to $73.27 per barrel while U.S. West Texas intermediate crude futures increased 0.4% to $69.28 per barrel. (Reporting and editing by Kevin Buckland)

(source: Reuters)