By Chris Prentice and Samuel Indyk
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Global shares and Wall Street were higher on an easing in trade tensions between the world's two largest economies, while the U.S. dollar extended losses as benign U.S. inflation data kept Federal Reserve rate cuts on the table.
Gold prices fell as the U.S.-China trade truce dimmed bullion's safe-haven appeal.
European stocks eased after four sessions of gains. Asian shares gained.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.24 points, or 0.26%, to 873.44.
As a truce in the tariff spat between China and the United States appeared to hit pause in the global trade war, investors have pushed global equities higher, although European shares took a breather on Wednesday.
"It's all about the change in risk appetite," said Lars Skovgaard, senior investment strategist at Danske Bank.
"I have a hard time seeing that we'll go back to this extreme political noise," he added.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.35 points, or 0.15%, to 42,204.78, the S&P 500 rose 2.26 points, or 0.04%, to 5,888.81 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 72.27 points, or 0.38%, to 19,082.35.
Europe's STOXX 600 retreated after having jumped over 17% since its trough on April 9, the day U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would be pausing most of the reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed higher by 1.56%, to 614.33, while Japan's Nikkei fell 55.13 points, or 0.14%, to 38,128.13.
The broader Topix snapped a 13-day winning run, its longest streak in nearly 16 years.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped, lifted by tech stocks after Chinese e-commerce retailer JD.com posted strong results. Tencent, China's biggest tech company, posted a 13% rise in first-quarter revenue on Wednesday.
Focus this week will also be on earnings from Alibaba on Thursday.
Data on Tuesday showing softer-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation also provided some relief to investors worried about the inflationary impact of U.S. tariff policies, which had severely undercut expectations of near-term Fed rate cuts.
Though traders expect inflation to pick up as tariffs lift import costs, the uncertainty over the outlook remains as Washington moves ahead to strike deals with its trading partners.
"U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are still much higher than they were months ago," said Wei He, China economist at Gavekal Research.
"There's still plenty of uncertainty about the outlook."