Stocks fluctuated Wednesday, with investors struggling to track a strong day on Wall Street as euphoria over the China-US trade detente petered out.But while the days of breathtaking volatility seen through April appear to be over for now, analysts warned that more work was needed for Washington to reach tariff deals with countries and instill a sense of stability.Data showing US inflation unexpectedly slowed last month provided some cheer, though observers pointed out that the real impact of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tolls will not likely be felt until May’s readings.The US president on Tuesday played up a deal with Beijing.”We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal… that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told Fox News.His remarks were made aboard Air Force One as he headed off on his Gulf tour, with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday pledging $600 billion worth of US investments in a range of sectors from defence to artificial intelligence.The agreements — including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices — would boost US jobs, and the stock market is “gonna go a lot higher”, Trump said, citing an “explosion of investment and jobs”.The tech-rich Nasdaq rallied with the S&P 500, which broke back into positive territory for the year, helped slightly by the inflation data.Asia was mixed, though there were some standout performances.Hong Kong jumped more than two percent and Shanghai also rallied thanks to healthy buying of Chinese tech firms ahead of earnings releases from market heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent.Investors are hoping the reports will provide an idea about how the sector’s two biggest firms are coping with the trade upheaval and uncertainty in the world’s number two economy. Tencent jumped three percent, while Alibaba and rival ecommerce giant JD.com put on even more.There were also gains in Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta but Singapore, Wellington, Manila and Bangkok fell.Tokyo ended down even as electronics titan Sony surged 3.7 percent as it announced a record annual profit and a $1.6 billion share buyback. However, it did warn profits could fall in this financial year and said it was hoping to manage the impact of Trump’s tariffs.London, Paris and Frankfurt fell in morning trade.Oil edged down after enjoying a four-day rally on demand optimism and Trump’s warnings to Iran over a nuclear deal.Analysts said that while the China deal was welcome, investors were now bracing for the next developments in the US president’s trade standoff with the world as countries look to strike deals with the White House to avert stiff tariffs.”Remember it’s an armistice not a peace treaty — and the tariffs are still at these levels worse than we had before,” Neil Wilson at Saxo Markets said.”Let’s be honest, the market knows this script by heart: Trump escalates. Markets tumble. Back-channels open. China blinks. A deal gets made. Risk rallies,” added Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The fog has lifted — for now. Whether this cycle brings more sustainable upside or just sets up the next tantrum remains to be seen,” he said.Still, the dialling down of tensions with China saw JPMorgan Chase predict the US economy would grow this year, reversing its earlier forecast for a contraction caused by the tariffs.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 38,128.13 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 23,640.65 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,403.95 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,598.77Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1206 from $1.1189 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3319 from $1.3304Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.01 yen from 147.47 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.14 pence from 84.07 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $63.61 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $66.55 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 42,140.43 (close)

Colombia formally agreed on Wednesday to join China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, as Beijing draws Latin America closer in a bid to counter the United States.Latin America has emerged as a key battleground in US President Donald Trump’s confrontations with China, and the region is coming under pressure from Washington to choose a side.China has surpassed the United States as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru, Chile and other Latin American nations, and two-thirds of countries there have signed up to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive.On the sidelines of a major gathering of regional leaders in Beijing on Wednesday, Colombia became the latest country to join the massive global initiative.Colombia’s foreign ministry hailed the agreement as a “historic step that opens up new opportunities for investment, technological cooperation, and sustainable development for both countries”.And after a meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Xi urged the countries to take the opportunity of Colombia formally joining the “Belt and Road Initiative family” to enhance their cooperation, Beijing’s state media said.Posting a video of the signing to social media platform X, Petro wrote that “the history of our foreign relations is changing”.”From now on, Colombia will interact with the entire world on a footing of equality and freedom,” he wrote.The BRI is a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand China’s economic and political clout overseas.For more than a decade, it has provided investment for infrastructure and other large-scale projects around the world, offering Beijing political and economic leverage in return.Last year, Xi inaugurated Latin America’s first Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru — a symbol of the Asian superpower’s growing influence on the continent.- ‘Defenders of free trade’ -This week’s China-CELAC Forum in Beijing has seen China cast itself as the defender of the multilateral order and the backer of the Global South, with Xi pledging on Monday $9.2 billion in credit towards development.That pledge was part of a broad set of initiatives aimed at deepening cooperation, including on infrastructure and clean energy.Beijing will also cooperate in counterterrorism and fighting transnational organised crime, Xi said, as well as enhancing exchanges such as scholarships and training programmes.During a meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday, Xi said that the “resurgence of unilateralism and protectionism is severely impacting the international economic and trade order”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.”As staunch defenders of multilateralism and free trade, China and Chile should strengthen multilateral coordination and jointly safeguard the common interests of the Global South,” Xi told Boric.Also in attendance at the China-CELAC forum was Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day state visit.Addressing delegates, Lula said his region did not “want to repeat history and start a new Cold War”, adding: “Our goal is to be an asset to the multilateral order for a global good”.In talks with Lula on Tuesday, Xi said the two countries should “strengthen cooperation” and together “oppose unilateralism”, according to Chinese state media.The United States and China have faced off in Latin America, including over the Panama Canal, which Trump has for months vowed to reclaim from alleged Chinese influence.Washington considered a Hong Kong company’s operation of ports at both ends of the interoceanic waterway to be a threat to its national security, but Beijing has dismissed the claims.And China’s market regulator is looking into a deal by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison to offload 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on the Panama Canal — to a US-led consortium.The world’s two largest economies are two of the top users of the canal, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.