Shares in Asia jumped on Friday following news that Washington and Beijing have agreed to a phase one trade deal in principle.
Japanese stocks surged on the day. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.55% to 24,023.10 as shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing soared 4.39%. The Topix index added 1.59% to end its trading day at 1,739.98.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey released Friday showing business confidence among the country's large manufacturers diving to its lowest level in more than six years.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also jumped 2.22%, as of its final hour of trade, as shares of Tencent and HSBC soared more than 2.5% each.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose on the day, with the Shanghai composite gaining 1.78% to around 2,967.68 and the Shenzhen component up 1.71% to 10,004.62. The Shenzhen composite also advanced 1.48% to about 1,660.55.
South Korea's Kospi also saw robust gains as it closed 1.54% higher at 2,170.25, with shares of chipmaker SK Hynix skyrocketing 5.4%.
Shares in Australia also advanced, as the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.46% to close at 6,739.70, with shares of major miner BHP jumping 1.94%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index jumped 1.49% higher.
The moves came amid U.S.-China trade optimism. The White House has offered to scrap the next round of tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. that are set to take effect on Sunday, sources told CNBC on Thursday. Washington has also proposed slashing existing duties on $360 billion in Chinese products by 50%.
"It is important to realize that there still hasn't been any official announcements but between (U.S. President Donald) Trump's tweets and reports by the media, there's more reason to believe that minimally, tariffs will be delayed," Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, wrote in an note on Thursday.
"As we've learned the hard way, (Trump's) attitude and decisions can change last minute so until he makes an official announcement which must occur before December 15th, the tariffs could still be imposed," Lien warned.
Movements in the British pound were also watched on Friday, with the British currency surging 2.14% to $1.3444 after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party reportedly secured a commanding majority following Thursday's general election.
Overnight stateside, stocks on Wall Street rose amid the trade optimism. The S&P 500 gained 0.9% to see a record close of 3,168.57. The Nasdaq Composite also finished at an all-time closing high, adding 0.7% to 8,717.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 220.75 points higher at 28,132.05.
Currencies and oil
Amid the positive trade headlines, the onshore yuan strengthened to 6.9747 per dollar. Its offshore counterpart changed hands at 6.9713 per dollar.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.87 after seeing highs above 97.2 yesterday.
The Japanese yen, often seen as a safe-haven currency in times of market uncertainty, traded at 109.64 against the dollar after weakening sharply from levels below 108.6 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6927 after rising from levels below $0.688 in the previous session.
Oil prices rose in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with the international benchmark Brent crude futures contract up 0.7% to $64.65 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also added 0.56% to $59.51 per barrel.
— This report was updated to reflect the correct trading price of the British pound.
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December 13, 2019 at 06:35AM
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Japan leads Asia stocks, jumping more than 2% as investors await phase one US-China trade deal - CNBC
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