President Trump is keeping the world guessing when it comes to his tariffs plan but he may have given markets their biggest clue yet.

The president said he "would rather not" impose levies on China and suggested that a deal could be reached between the U.S. and the world's second-largest economy, in the second part of an interview with Fox News late Thursday.

"We have one very big power over China, and that's tariffs, and they don't want them, and I'd rather not have to use it. But it's a tremendous power over China" he said.

While they may be offhand remarks rather than official government policy, it provides investors with more evidence that Trump's tariff threats may be a negotiating tactic.

Asian stocks rose early Friday -- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.9% and China's blue-chip CSI 300 index rose 0.8%. U.S. stock futures edged slightly lower after four consecutive days of gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

Beijing responded to the comments, saying that "China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial," in another sign that relations between the two countries may be improving.

"There are no winners in a trade war or a tariff battle. Such a conflict does not serve the interests of any party and is not conducive to the global economy," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

Things can change very quickly, though, and it's worth remembering that on Tuesday Trump said he was considering a 10% tariff on China from Feb.1. Unfortunately, investors will be reacting to every comment, social media post and headline on this issue for the foreseeable future -- or until any tariffs are imposed.