By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares traded mixed Thursday, as worries crept back following a Wall Street rally that came after President Donald Trump appeared to back off his criticism of the Federal Reserve and his tough talk in his trade war.

France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.9% in early trading to 7,412.26, while the German DAX shed early 1.0% to 21,755.04. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 8,375.06. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures declining nearly 0.9% at 39,433.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.8% to 5,359.25.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.5% to finish at 35,039.15. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 7,968.20. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.1% to 2,522.33. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.7% to 21,909.76, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 3,297.29.

Calling Trump’s policy announcements “headline turbulence,” Tan Jing Yi of the Asia & Oceania Treasury Department at Mizuho Bank warned that global economies could be hurt in the long run, adding, “Sentiments swing from hopes of intense relief to inflicted economic gloom.”

Much of the recent market volatility is because of uncertainty about what Trump will do with his economic policies. Adding to some relief was Trump saying late Tuesday that he has “no intention” to fire the head of the Federal Reserve.

Trump’s tough talk had frightened investors because the Fed is supposed to act independently, without pressure from politicians, so that it can make decisions that may be painful in the short term but are best for the long term.

While a cut to interest rates by the Fed could give the economy a boost, it could also put upward pressure on inflation. Trump also said U.S. tariffs on imports coming from China could come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“It won’t be that high, not going to be that high,” he said.

Investors are hoping Trump would lower his tariffs after negotiating trade deals with other countries. Trump said this week that he would be “very nice” to the world’s second-largest economy and not play hardball with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“There is an opportunity for a big deal here,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $62.82 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 56 cents to $66.68 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 142.67 Japanese yen from 143.15 yen. The euro cost $1.1375, up from $1.1322.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

By HUIZHONG WU, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — China on Thursday denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the two sides were involved in active negotiations over tariffs, saying that any suggestion of progress in this matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind.”

China’s comments come after Trump said Tuesday that the final tariff rate on China’s exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“China’s position is consistent and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” said Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong. “Any claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis.”

Trump had told reporters earlier in the week that “everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China, although his Treasury Secretary had said there were no formal negotiations.

Trump had put 145% tariffs on imports from China, while China hit back with 125% tariffs on U.S. products. While Trump has given other countries a 90-day pause on the tariffs, as their leaders pledged to negotiate with the U.S., China remained the exception. Instead, Beijing raised its own tariffs and deployed other economic measures in response while vowing to “fight to the end.” For example, China restricted exports of rare earth minerals and raised multiple cases against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization.

China also made it clear that talks should involve the cancellation of all tariffs it currently faces.

“The unilateral tariff increase measures were initiated by the United States. If the United States really wants to solve the problem, it should face up to the rational voices of the international community and all parties at home, completely cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, and find ways to resolve differences through equal dialogue,” said He, the spokesman.

Despite the economic measures leveled against China, Trump said Tuesday that he would be “very nice” and not play hardball with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together,” Trump said.

By VASILISA STEPANENKO and SAMYA KULLAB, Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since last July and just as peace efforts are coming to a head.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the attack he is cutting short his official trip to South Africa and returning home as the city reeled from the bombardment that kept residents on edge for about 11 hours. It appeared to be Russia’s biggest attack on Kyiv in nine months, and Zelenskyy branded it as “one of (Russia’s) most outrageous.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko announced that Friday would be an official day of mourning day in the capital.

Rescue workers clear the rubble after a Russian strike in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine. Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets.

The attack came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be culminating without an agreement in sight and hours after U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.

Zelenskyy says future of negotiations depends on Moscow

Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the more than three-year war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He noted Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia’s attacks had continued.

He said in South Africa that the latest attack meant the future of negotiations “depends on Russia’s intention because it is in Moscow where they have to make a decision.”

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

While talks have been going on in recent weeks, Russia has hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the attack underscored that the main obstacle to ending the war is Russia.

“While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv,” she wrote on social media. “This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it.”

Senior U.S. officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon give up its efforts to stop the war if the two sides don’t compromise.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to press his bigger army’s advantage on the roughly 620-mile front line, where it currently holds the momentum.

“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war,” Sybiha said on X. “Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian attacks haves killed some 13,000 civilians, including 618 children.

Kyiv residents spent the night in shelters

At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on residential suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

At a Kyiv residential building that was almost entirely destroyed, emergency workers removed rubble with their hands, rescuing a trapped woman who emerged from the wreckage covered in white dust and moaning in pain.

An elderly woman sat against a brick wall, face smeared with blood, her eyes fixed to the ground in shock as medics tended to her wounds.

Fires were reported in several residential buildings said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city military administration.

The attack, which began around 1 a.m., hit at least five neighborhoods in Kyiv.

Oksana Bilozir, a student, suffered a head injury in the attack. With blood seeping from her bandaged head, she said that she heard a loud explosion after the air alarm blared and began to grab her things to flee to a shelter when another blast caused her home’s walls to crumble and the lights to go off.

“I honestly don’t even know how this will all end, it’s very scary,” said Bilozir, referring to the war against Russia’s invasion. “I only believe that if we can stop them on the battlefield, then that’s it. No diplomacy works here.”

The attack kept many people awake all night long as multiple loud explosions reverberated around the city and flashes of light punctuated the sky. Families gathered in public air raid shelters, some of them bringing their pet cat and dog.

Zelenskyy returning from South Africa

Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that he would fly back to Kyiv after meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit further South African support in efforts to end his country’s war with Russia, now in its fourth year.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Kyiv attack was “yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law.”

“Civilians must never be targets. This senseless use of force must stop,” it said in a statement.

Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, a mother of two, was sheltering in a basement after multiple blasts damaged her home. Her family was sleeping when the first explosion shattered their windows and sent kitchen appliances flying in the air. Shards of glass rained down on them as they rushed to take cover in the corridor.

“After that we came to the shelter because it was scary and dangerous at home,” she said.

In Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district, the attack flattened a two-story residential building and heavily damaged nearby multi-story buildings. Rescue work continued through the morning.

At a nearby school-turned-relief center, children helped parents cover blown-out windows with plastic while others queued for government compensation. Many stood in blood-stained clothes, still shaken.

Associated Press journalist Michelle Gumede in Pretoria, South Africa contributed to this report.

Today is Thursday, April 24, the 114th day of 2025. There are 251 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On April 24, 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule in Ireland. Though the rebels surrendered to British forces six days later, the uprising set the stage for republican victories in the Irish general election of 1918 and the establishment of the Irish Free State via the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922.

Also on this date:

In 1915, in what is considered the start of the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople.

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In 1960, rioting erupted in Biloxi, Mississippi, after Black protesters staging a “wade-in” at a whites-only beach were attacked by a crowd of hostile white people.

In 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his Soyuz 1 spacecraft smashed into the Earth after his parachutes failed to deploy properly during reentry. He was the first human spaceflight fatality.

In 1980, the United States launched Operation Eagle Claw, an unsuccessful attempt to free 53 American hostages in Iran that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. service members.

In 1990, Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

In 1995, the final bomb linked to the Unabomber exploded inside the Sacramento, California, offices of the California Forestry Association, killing chief lobbyist Gilbert B. Murray. (Theodore Kaczynski was later sentenced to four lifetimes in prison for a series of bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others.)

In 2013, in Bangladesh, a shoddily constructed eight-story commercial building housing garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.

In 2018, former police officer Joseph DeAngelo was arrested at his home near Sacramento after DNA linked him to crimes attributed to the Golden State Killer; authorities believed he committed 13 murders and more than 50 rapes in the 1970s and 1980s. (DeAngelo would plead guilty in 2020 to 13 counts of murder and be sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Shirley MacLaine is 91.
Actor-singer-filmmaker Barbra Streisand is 83.
Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier is 73.
Actor Eric Bogosian is 72.
Actor Michael O’Keefe is 70.
Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 61.
Actor Djimon Hounsou (JEYE’-mihn OHN’-soo) is 61.
Actor Aidan Gillen is 57.
Actor Rory McCann is 56.
Latin pop singer Alejandro Fernandez is 54.
Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones is 53.
Actor Derek Luke is 51.
Singer-TV personality Kelly Clarkson is 43.
Country singer Carly Pearce is 35.
Actor-musician Joe Keery is 33.
Actor Jack Quaid is 33.
Actor Jordan Fisher is 31.
Golfer Lydia Ko is 28.