ISTANBUL

Global markets reflected hope for averting a trade war after US President Donald Trump reversed course on his tariff policy.

Washington is holding many tariff talks with various countries, boosting investors' hopes of avoiding a trade war.

Trump said on Friday that Washington is "very close" to reaching a deal with Japan as part of ongoing negotiations over US tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump's remarks came as Japan's economy minister and lead negotiator in the tariff talks, Ryosei Akazawa, prepares for a three-day visit to the US beginning Wednesday for a second round of talks with Washington.

Last week, during his visit to the White House as Trump's first foreign trade negotiator, Akazawa urged the US to reconsider tariffs on a range of Japanese exports, particularly those from the country's major automobile industry.

On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with South Korea "may be moving faster" than expected.

"We had a very successful bilateral meeting with the Republic of South Korea today. We may be moving faster than I thought, and we will be talking technical terms as early as next week as we reach an agreement on understanding as soon as next week.

"So South Koreans came early. They came with their A game, and we will see if they follow through on that," Bessent told reporters at the White House.

South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok departed Tuesday for the US to attend the first round of trade negotiations with US officials.

Following these developments, the VIX, the "fear index," a widely watched measure of market volatility, fell to 29.70 points as of 0740GMT, from its record high of 52.33 points, which was hit on April 8.

On Friday, the US stocks closed higher on the hopes of averting a trade war, mainly driven by the "Magnificent Seven" big techs.

Meanwhile, gold, a traditional safe-haven asset, fell 0.9% to $3,289.10 on Monday after hitting a record high of $3,500.33 last week.