(Updates in European morning)

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Trump's tariff timeline offers markets reprieve

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Gold prices set for seventh straight week of gains

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Chinese tech stocks rally rages on

By Ankur Banerjee and Elizabeth Howcroft

SINGAPORE/PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) -

Global stock markets held near record highs on Friday and

European indexes were set for their eighth weekly gain in a row,

after U.S. President Donald Trump said reciprocal tariffs would

not be immediately imposed, suggesting room for negotiations.

Trump's plans to impose tariffs on every country taxing U.S.

imports have stoked fears of a wide-ranging trade war, pushing

gold prices to a record high earlier this week. Gold was set for

a seventh straight week of gains.

But a directive from Trump on Thursday stopped short of

imposing fresh tariffs, instead kicking off what could be weeks

or months of investigation into the levies imposed on U.S. goods

by other trading partners and then devising a response.

"While global financial markets may be inclined to take some

relief from the delay in the immediate imposition of reciprocal

tariffs, it is not clear to us whether the delay necessarily

reflects a lower likelihood that they will eventually be

imposed," Barclays analysts said in a note.

Trump has kicked off a trade war, first by imposing tariffs

on Mexico and Canada and then pausing them, but sticking with

duties on Chinese goods.

"It seems that Trump's bark has once again proved worse than

his bite when it comes to the matter of trade," said Michael

Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

"That doesn't, however, stop this now rather tiresome

merry-go-round of headlines, nor the accompanying yo-yo price

action, as participants grapple with whatever the latest story

is, and try to discount it."

European stocks were mixed, with the pan-European STOXX

600 index up 0.1% on the day, having closed at a record

high on Thursday. Futures for Nasdaq and S&P 500

were a touch higher.

European markets have

outperformed

in recent months due to hopes for a possible peace deal

between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the prospect of interest

rate cuts and U.S. tariffs being less severe than feared.

Goldman Sachs

raised

its 12-month price forecast for Europe's STOXX 600, citing

the possibility of a Ukraine ceasefire.

In Asia, the spotlight has been on a rally in Chinese tech

stocks, with the Hang Seng Tech Index hitting its

highest level in three years on Thursday spurred by home-grown

start-up DeepSeek's breakthrough.

On Friday, Hong Kong's benchmark index rose over 2%,

taking its weekly gains to 5%, its fifth straight week of gains

and the strongest weekly performance in four months.

James Ooi, market strategist at Tiger Brokers, said the

DeepSeek-driven rally appears to have further upside in the

short term, but a sustained rally will depend on the Chinese

tech sector's ability to monetise AI.

"While Chinese tech companies trade at lower valuations,

their reliance on domestic revenue limits their potential to

reach valuation levels comparable to global tech giants ... they

(also) face heightened scrutiny over privacy and security

concerns," Ooi said.

INFLATION WATCH

Data on Thursday showed U.S. producer prices rose solidly in

January, bolstering financial market views that the Federal

Reserve would not be cutting interest rates before the second

half of the year.

But components of the data that are part of the personal

consumption expenditures (PCE), the Fed's preferred inflation

measure, were soft and added to hopes the PCE reading may be

cooler than currently expected.

The data comes on the heels of Wednesday's consumer price

index (CPI), which showed its largest acceleration in nearly

1-1/2 years.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes was

steady at 4.5347% after tumbling 10 basis points on Thursday,

clocking its biggest daily drop in a month.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, was down 0.2% on the day at

106.93 after dropping 0.8% on Thursday, its biggest one-day

percentage drop since January 20.

The euro hovered near its highest in more than two

weeks at $1.0477, supported by optimism around potential peace

talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Oil prices rose, poised to end three weeks of losses, buoyed

partly by rising fuel demand.

Brent futures were up 0.5% at $75.37 a barrel

while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained

0.4% to $71.45.