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 instil a sense of stability.

Wall Street was slightly higher in midday trading, with the Dow up around 0.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining 0.6 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500, which broke back into positive territory for the year on Tuesday, was up 0.2 percent.

In a further boost for the US-China trade truce, Beijing said Wednesday it was suspending some non-tariff countermeasures on US entities for 90 days.

But the market relief that followed news of a de-escalation in the US-China trade war at high-level talks over the weekend looked to have run its course.

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

In Europe, the Paris, Frankfurt and London stock markets all closed lower.

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

The Hong Kong stock market jumped more than two percent.

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.

Tech darling Nvidia meanwhile extended its gains Wednesday, trading up 3.3 percent after adding nearly six percent Tuesday.

That comes after Trump unveiled agreements Tuesday with Saudi Arabia on a visit to the Gulf, including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

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

"So far this week, the Magnificent 7 (of blue-chip tech stocks) is outperforming the overall S&P 500... as the US improves its trading partnerships with key nations and President Trump sells Nvidia chips to leaders of the Middle East."

Boeing shares were meanwhile up 1.4 percent after Trump said in Doha that Qatar Airways had placed a "record" order worth more than $200 billion for their planes.

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.

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 1530 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 42,168.52 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,897.20

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 19,129.14

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,585.01 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,836.79 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,527.01 (close)

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 $1.1208 from $1.1189 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3301 from $1.3304

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.46 yen from 147.47 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 84.28 pence from 84.07 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $63.07 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $66.05 per barrel

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Nvidia

AMD - ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES

Tencent

INDEX CORP.

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