SINGAPORE/PARIS - Global stock markets rose on Friday, after US President Donald Trump's latest comments were seen as taking a softer stance towards tariffs against China and raised the prospect of lower US interest rates.

The yen, meanwhile, firmed after the Bank of Japan delivered a widely expected rate hike.

Trump told business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday that he wanted to lower global oil prices, interest rates and taxes.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday evening, Trump said his recent conversation with President Xi Jinping was friendly and he thought he could reach a trade deal with China.

Those comments sent China's CSI300 blue-chip index up 0.8 percent. The Australian and New Zealand dollars, as well as the yuan, also rose.

At 0935 GMT, the MSCI World Equity index was up 0.3 percent on the day.

European stocks also edged higher during early trading, helped by personal goods stocks as well as Trump's comments, with the STOXX 600 up 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX up 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 up 0.9 percent on the day.

Eurozone businesses saw a modest return to growth at the start of the new year, PMI data showed.

Japan rate hike

The BOJ raised interest rates to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis, with attention now shifting to any clues from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda in his briefing on the pace and timing of further increases.

The yen strengthened to 154.86 per dollar in volatile trading, just shy of the one-month high of 154.78 it touched earlier this week.

"The hike may have been expected but, in what feels like the first time in a very long time, there were no major downgrades to their economic outlook," said Matt Simpson, a senior market analyst at City Index.

"This keeps the door open to another 25 basis point hike by the year-end, and rates to sit at a whopping 0.75 percent."

Trump's comments on wanting lower interest rates on Thursday moved US markets, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high, although investors remained cautious about the president's next moves on trade and tariffs.

"No politician advocates for higher rates and he has always put himself out there as a low rates guy," said Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities. "Expect the president to become more vocal and critical of the Fed."

Treasury yields have been on the rise as bond investors brace for eventual tariffs that may stoke inflation. The US 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.6398 percent in European trading hours, below last week's 14-month high of 4.809 percent.

Eurozone government bond yields edged higher, with the German benchmark 10-year yield at 2.549 percent.

The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are due to meet next week as policymakers digest early moves of the Trump administration.

Currency markets in general have been tentative after a volatile few sessions since Trump's return to the White House, driven by his pronouncements on tariffs.

The US dollar index was at 107.47, down around 0.6 percent on the day and set for a 1.8 percent weekly loss - its biggest weekly loss in two months.

Oil prices remained well below $80 a barrel, under pressure after Trump said he would be asking Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down oil prices.

Brent crude futures were a touch higher at $78.54 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was at $74.83.