Asian stocks closed higher on Tuesday after Wall Street rebounded on the first day of the trading week as China and the U.S. moved to ease trade tensions.
The Nikkei 225 Index ballooned 551.22 points, or 2.7%, to 21,317.32, as all sectors advanced. The oil and coal sub-index led the climb higher, rising 4.1%, while construction and machinery names also recorded substantial gains.
The Hang Seng Index gained 242.06 points, or 0.8%, to 30,790.83, after paring steeper gains seen earlier in the day. Technology and telecommunications stocks led gains for the day.
In Korea, indexes headed higher even as index heavyweight Samsung Electronics slid 0.6%. That decline was offset by gains in automakers and financials, with Hyundai Motor rising 3%
Steelmakers were mixed after South Korea said on Monday that its steelmakers would face U.S. quotas on imports, but not tariffs: Poscopopped 5.3% and Hyundai Steel jumped 3.6%, but Seah Steel lost 2.5%.
In individual stocks, Taiwan's HTC surged 6.4%. The move came after the phone maker announced that gains related to the conclusion of a $1.1-billion U.S. agreement with Google would be recognized in the first quarter of the year
In currencies, the U.S. dollar was subdued against a basket of rivals as investor sentiment improved. The dollar index was steady at 89.025 late in the trading day, after touching a five-week low in the previous session.
Against the safe-haven yen, the dollar held onto overnight gains to trade at 105.49, after slipping below the 105 handle last week.
Meanwhile, the yuan rose to its highest levels in more than two and a half years during the day.
CHINA
The CSI 300 recovered 33.38 points, or 0.9%, to 3,913.27. Small caps outperformed, with the Chinext start-up board surging 3.4%
Chipmakers traded lower after Financial Times reported that China offered to purchase more U.S. semiconductors to alleviate its trade surplus with the U.S. while buying fewer from elsewhere. SK Hynix fell 3.1% by the end of the session.
The gains seen in Asia came after markets sank on Friday on the back of jitters over a possible trade war. More recent news suggested there could be some positive developments on trade-related issues, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the two countries had begun "quietly" negotiating.
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said Monday he was "hopeful" China would work with the U.S. to address trade-related issues.
Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said during a Monday conference that the two countries should "stick to negotiations" to resolve differences.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex hiked 146.74 points, or 1.4%, to 10,986.79
In Korea, the Kospi added 14.98 points, or 0.6%, to 2,452.06
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index swelled 26.98 points, or 0.8%, to 3,439.35
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recouped 75.71 points, or 0.9%, to 8,508.12
The ASX 200 reclaimed 41.84 points, or 0.7%, to 5,832.30
