Stocks mostly rose Wednesday ahead of key US economic and earnings reports, while traders took in their stride data showing Chinese factory activity contracted at its fastest pace for nearly two years as Donald Trump's trade war kicked in.

While markets have recovered some of the losses suffered after the US president's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement on April 2, uncertainty still rules as countries look to cut deals to avert the worst of Washington's duties.

China has pointedly not flown to the United States in a bid to pare back the levies of up to 145 percent imposed on its goods, instead hitting back with 125 percent tolls of its own.

But the effect of the measures began to shine through in April, with data Wednesday showing manufacturing activity contracted at its fastest pace since July 2023 -- a month after expanding at its quickest rate for 12 months.

That came after Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent last month as businesses rushed to get ahead of the swingeing tariffs.

And observers fear things will only worsen.

"The weak manufacturing PMI in April is driven by the trade war," Zhiwei Zhang, president and........

© International Business Times