Stocks in Asia traded higher Friday morning amid positive developments on the U.S.-China trade front.
Mainland Chinese stocks edged up in early trade, with the Shanghai composite up about 0.2% and the Shenzhen composite fractionally higher.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.31%, with shares of CNOOC surging 3.13%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.95% while the Topix index added 0.52%. Shares of Fast Retailing, the company behind apparel giant Uniqlo, surged almost 4% after the firm reported a record profit on Thursday. The stock last traded 3.36% higher.
In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.93%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.7% higher.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index added 0.86%.
US-China trade
Investors watch for market reaction to overnight developments on U.S.-China trade. American President Donald Trump said in a tweet Thursday that he is set to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday, raising expectations that progress could be made on the trade front by the two economic powerhouses.
The U.S. and China are currently in the midst of high-level trade negotiations in Washington. The world's two largest economies seek to reach a deal to end their protracted trade war that has seen tariffs slapped on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods and driven worries over the global economic outlook.
"To affirm a temporary trade truce, the second day of trade talks (today) will need US President Donald Trump to suspend or cancel the US tariffs that are scheduled to hit on Chinese goods October 15 and December 15," strategists at Singapore's DBS Group Research wrote in a note.
Still, in the longer term, the strategists said: "The broader China-US trade war remains unresolved."
Trump's tweet was the latest in a number of conflicting reports that had appeared prior to the start of high-level trade negotiations on Thursday, sending markets into a whirlwind.
A South China Morning Post report on Thursday morning in Asia said the two sides made no progress in deputy-level negotiations this week, and added that Liu would leave Washington earlier than expected. A White House spokesperson later told CNBC's Kayla Tausche: "We are not aware of a change in the Vice Premier's travels plans at this time."
Bloomberg News also reported Thursday morning Asia time that the U.S was considering an agreement to suspend next week's tariff increase in exchange for a currency pact. The U.S. previously announced it will increase duties on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods from 25% to 30% on October 15. A 15% tariff on an additional $160 billion worth of Chinese imports is also expected to kick in on December 15.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported Wednesday evening stateside that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is set to grant licenses that would allow American firms to sell nonsensitive supplies to Huawei. Earlier this year, the White House placed a ban on sales to the Chinese telecommunications giant, citing national security concerns.
Asia-Pacific Market Indexes Chart
Overnight stateside, shares on Wall Street got a boost from the optimism on U.S.-China trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 150.66 points to close at 26,496.67 while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% to end its trading day at 2,938.13. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.6% higher at 7,950.78.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.683 after falling from levels above 99.0 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.97 against the dollar after weakening from levels below 107.6 in the previous session. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6767 after jumping from levels below $0.672 yesterday.
Oil prices rose in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures gaining 0.54% to $59.42 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also advanced 0.45% to $53.79 per barrel.
What's on tap:
- India: Industrial production data for August at 8:00 p.m. HK/SIN
— CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
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October 11, 2019 at 06:48AM
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Asia stocks higher amid US-China trade optimism - CNBC
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