US stocks are floating near all-time highs as Wall Street maintains cautious optimism that Washington might ink more trade deals, avoiding a worst-case scenario of extraordinarily high tariffs and enabling the resilient economy to continue chugging along.

"He's a wheeler-dealer, our president, needless to say, and he's kind of cutting these deals — but he has scared these people, and he's leveraged American bargaining power."

The right-wing populist party Sanseito made big strides in parliamentary elections in Japan, capitalizing on concerns about the economy, immigration and overtourism.

On his own terms, it could now be said that the aggressive approach by the US President is yielding tangible results.

Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, the Asahi newspaper reported on Wednesday.