A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom

Westbrook

A phone call between Donald Trump and his Russian

counterpart Vladimir Putin is on markets' radar this morning as

the U.S. pushes for a ceasefire and peace deal in Ukraine -

ahead of a slew of central bank meetings later in the week.

The leaders' conversation takes place in a moment of calm

for traders, with stocks stabilising and progress to peace

likely to send European gas prices down and the euro higher.

Putin's demands seem familiar, but Trump said they would be

talking about land, power plants and "dividing up certain

assets" and that he thinks agreement is possible.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said

on Monday the conditions demanded by Russia to agree to a

ceasefire showed Moscow does not really want peace.

Trade in the Asia session was driven by another burst of

enthusiasm for China, which has been an unlikely beneficiary of

Trump's rattling of U.S. markets and growth expectations.

The latest push came from the release of another

surprisingly weak U.S. retail sales report, and the White House

confirming reciprocal tariffs will come into effect on April 2 -

putting pressure on the dollar and hoisting gold.

At the same time China has announced some childcare

subsidies and other consumer-friendly measures, while data on

Monday showed small signs of a pickup in retail spending.

The Hang Seng notched a three-year peak and its

almost 23% rise for the year so far is easily the largest of any

major market.

Gains were broad with miners, automakers, tech and retail

stocks higher. The Shenzhen shares of electric-vehicle maker

BYD leapt to a record as the company unveiled a new

platform it says can recharge electric cars as quickly as

pumping gas.

The New Zealand dollar was also at three-month

highs with short-sellers seemingly spooked by New Zealand's

exposure to China's consumers via dairy exports.

On investors' radar will be Nvidia's ( NVDA ) annual

software developer conference, where CEO Jensen Huang, who will

be delivering the keynote address on Tuesday, is expected to

defend his nearly $3 trillion chip company's dominance as

pressure mounts on its biggest customers to rein in the costs of

artificial intelligence.

At the conference this week, Nvidia ( NVDA ) is also expected to

reveal details of a chip system called Vera Rubin, the successor

to its Blackwell chips.

Central bank meetings in Japan, the U.S., Britain, Sweden

and Switzerland round out the week.

Key developments that could influence markets on Tuesday:

-Trump-Putin phone call

-German ZEW surveys