Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato drew attention by mentioning that the country’s more than $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds could potentially be a “card on the table” in negotiations with Washington over Trump’s steep tariffs on autos and other imports.

Wall Street surged early Thursday with a string of major U.S. companies posting strong quarterly earnings in an economic environment that has grown increasingly uncertain as the U.S. upends long-standing trade policies.

By Chibuike Oguh and Sruthi Shankar NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wall Street stocks advanced on Friday, notching the second straight week of gains, helped by strong economic data and potential easing of trade tensions between the U.