While the April volatility stemming from President Donald Trump's tariffs blitz appears to have halted, analysts warned that Washington still needed to reach trade deals with countries to instill a sense of stability.

Wall Street rose in opening trading, with the Dow up around 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining 0.7 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent, extending a rally after breaking back into positive territory for the year on Tuesday.

In Europe, the Paris, Frankfurt and London stock markets were all down in afternoon trading.

Chinese indices closed with sizeable gains on rallies for tech stocks.

"After a powerful rally to start the week, the stock markets are consolidating," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com.

"For now, there are no major bearish catalysts and investors are warming towards (the) technology sector once again, chipmakers in particular," he added.

"The key theme for global stocks this week is the resurgence of big tech," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump unveiled agreements with Saudi Arabia on a visit to the Gulf, including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

Nvidia extended its gains Wednesday, opening up 3.6 percent after adding nearly six percent Tuesday.

The Hong Kong stock market jumped more than two percent and Shanghai rallied, lifted by strong buying in Chinese tech stocks.

After Asian markets closed, Chinese internet giant Tencent reported a better-than-expected increase in revenue for the first quarter, propelled by growth in gaming.

Tokyo ended in the red, even as electronics titan Sony surged 3.7 percent as it announced a record annual profit.

However, Sony did warn profits could fall in this financial year and said it was hoping to manage the impact of Trump's tariffs.

The news came after a de-escalation in the US-China trade war over the weekend, which helped ease some concern over tariffs.

Analysts warned, however, that prices could spike in the coming months as businesses come to grips with Trump's sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs.

Elsewhere, defence stocks fared particularly well in Europe on Wednesday, with Rheinmetall topping Frankfurt's DAX.

In other company news, Burberry shares soared 17 percent after the British luxury fashion group announced more cost-saving measures, putting one-fifth of its workforce at risk, to help curb losses.

French train maker Alstom shares plunged 17 percent as its financial target disappointed investors, despite reporting a return to profit last year.

Oil prices retreated after enjoying a four-day rally on demand optimism and Trump's warnings to Iran over a nuclear deal.

- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 42,251.16 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 5,906.07

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 19,146.38

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,616.13

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,877.75

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 23,702.20

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)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1224 from $1.1189 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3318 from $1.3304

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.08 yen from 147.47 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 84.28 pence from 84.07 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $63.30 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $66.27 per barrel

dan-ajb/bcp/jhb/lth

Nvidia

AMD - ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES

Tencent

INDEX CORP.

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