Reuters

World stocks came off six-week lows and U.S. stock futures jumped on Monday on optimism that the United States and China are set to begin negotiations on trade, easing fears about a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Asian shares were hammered again on Monday as fears of a trade war between the United States and China took their toll, but the safe haven yen came off its highs and U.S. stock futures climbed as investors saw some light at the end of the tunnel.

The United States asked China in a letter last week to cut the tariff on U.S. autos, buy more U.S.-made semiconductors and give U.S. firms greater access to the Chinese financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The United States has flouted trade rules with an inquiry into intellectual property and China will defend its interests, Vice Premier Liu He told U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a telephone call on Saturday, Chinese state media reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed Congress’ newly passed $1.3 trillion spending bill on Friday, ending several hours of confusion spurred by a tweeted veto threat that raised the specter of a government shutdown.

Canada’s annual inflation rate in February jumped to 2.2 percent from 1.7 percent in January, the highest level in more than three years, in part due to costlier gasoline, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

The threat of a global trade war sent stock markets sliding and investors rushing for the safety of currencies like the yen and government bonds on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods.

U.S. President Donald Trump has temporarily excluded six countries, including Canada and Mexico, and European Union states from higher U.S. import duties on steel and aluminum meant to come into effect on Friday.

The rumblings of a global trade war shook stock and currency markets on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced long-promised tariffs on Chinese goods and China retaliated with a pledge to fight to the end any such war.

Oil prices jumped more than 1 percent on Friday, pushed up by Saudi plans for OPEC and Russian led production curbs introduced in 2017 to be extended into 2019 in order to tighten the market.