Asian Shares Follow Wall Street’s Lead, Rising on Hope of Timely Trade Deal

The major Asia/Pacific stock indexes are trading mostly higher on Wednesday with the lone loser in Japan. Stocks are taking their lead from the strong performance in the United States on Tuesday. However, the trade remains cautious amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and China.

Investors appear to be optimistic that the two economic powerhouses will work out their differences and hammer out a trade deal in a timely manner. President Trump suggested earlier in the week that the process of working out an acceptable trade deal may take three to four weeks.

At 03:46 GMT, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index is trading 21051.24, down 15.99 or -0.08 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 28327.09, up 205.07 or +0.73 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI Index is trading 2095.17, up 13.40 or +0.64 percent.

In Australia and China, the two countries most effected by the trade tensions, the S&P/ASX 200 is at 6279.20, up 39.30 or +0.63 percent and the Shanghai Index is at 2915.28, up 31.67 or +1.10 percent respectively.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was dragged down by a weak performance in shares of index heavyweight Fast Retailing, which fell about 1%. Shares of Japanese automaker Nissan Motor also plunged more than 6 percent after posting 2018 fiscal earnings that were their lowest level in 11 years.

Also in Japan, M2 Money Stock rose 2.6%, beating the 2.3% forecast and 2.4% previous read. Later today, investors will get the opportunity to react to a report on Preliminary Machine Tool Orders.

Shares in Australia were mostly boosted by the hope of a trade deal between the U.S. and China. However, a disappointing Westpac Consumer Sentiment report and sluggish Wage Price Index data supported a possible rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Lower interest rates tend to increase demand for equities.

Mainland Chinese shares advanced despite disappointing news across the board. Industrial Production output for April came in below forecasts. The report showed an increase of 5.4% year-on-year, compared to expectations of a 6.5% year-on-year increase.