Stocks mostly rose on Tuesday as the latest round of China-US trade talks entered its second day. One of Donald Trump’s top advisers said he expected “a big, strong handshake.”

There is optimism that the negotiations, which come after the US president spoke to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last week, will bring some much-needed calm to markets and ease tensions between the economic superpowers.

This week’s meeting in London will look to smooth relations after Trump accused Beijing of violating an agreement made at a meeting of top officials last month in Geneva that ended with the two sides slashing tit-for-tat tariffs.

The key issues on the agenda at the talks are expected to be exports of rare earth minerals used in a wide range of things, including smartphones and electric vehicle batteries.

But even though Beijing was releasing some supplies, “it was going a lot slower than some companies believed was optimal”, he added.

Still, he said he expected “a big, strong handshake” at the end of the talks.

But even though Beijing was releasing some supplies, “it was going a lot slower than some companies believed was optimal”, he added.

Still, he said he expected “a big, strong handshake” at the end of the talks.

After a strong start, Asian markets stuttered in the afternoon, though it was not immediately clear what had prompted the step back.

Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta rose but Hong Kong and Shanghai reversed their initial rallies as investors grew nervous ahead of the resumption of the talks.

Singapore and Manila also slipped.

Investors are also awaiting key US inflation data this week, which could impact the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy amid warnings that Trump’s tariffs will refuel inflation, strengthening the argument to keep interest rates on hold.

However, it also faces pressure from the president to cut rates, with bank officials due to decide at their meeting next week.

While recent job data has eased concerns about the US economy, analysts remain cautious.

However, they also warned: “The current global trade war coupled with big spending cuts by the US government and possibly higher US inflation could derail US consumer spending to the point that the global economy contracts for multiple quarters.”