Asia Stocks Chased Wall Street Higher amid Trade Optimism

Asian stocks chased Wall Street higher on Friday amid optimism U.S.-Chinese trade relations are improving.

Hong Kong's benchmark rose 1.2% while Shanghai and Hong Kong also rose and Tokyo was unchanged.

Investors greeted President Donald Trump's comment that an interim "Phase 1" trade deal was "getting done." Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would hold a signing ceremony.

Markets have been fuelled by positive comments about the agreement, though details have yet to be released. 

Chinese customs data this week showed November soybean imports rose in a possible boom to American farmers. Midwestern farm states were battered by Beijing's earlier postponement of purchases of U.S. soybeans, the biggest Chinese import from the United States, in response to Trump's tariff hikes in a fight over China's technology ambitions and trade surplus.

"Broadly risk sentiment is positive," Mizuho Bank said in a report.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose to 28,193.40 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,032.81. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was off 16 points at 23,908.33.

Seoul's Kospi gained 0.3% to 2,204.03 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 0.4% to 6,820.10.

India's Sensex opened 0.7% higher at 41,439.43. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Singapore advanced while New Zealand declined.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average reached new highs Thursday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 3,239.91 and the Dow gained 0.4% to 28,621.39. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to 9,022.39.

Investors welcomed a report by Mastercard SpendingPulse that showed U.S. online Christmas shopping rose 18.8% over a year earlier.

In spite of optimism about a U.S.-Chinese trade truce, traders still are concerned about bigger unresolved disputes.

The coming year also has the added complication of the U.S. presidential election.

Source: AP