Asia markets were mostly higher on Wednesday after a cautious start as investors wait for an important meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week.
The Nikkei 225 leaped 224.62 points, or 1%, to 22,177.02. The Japanese yen, widely viewed as a safe-haven currency, was at 113.87 against the U.S. dollar after weakening from levels around 113.4 in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index popped 350.6 points, or 1.3%, to 26,682.56
In Australia, where things were a titch negative, shares of Australia's major miners were mixed. Rio Tinto fell 2.2% and BHP Billiton slipped 0.8% while Fortescue Metals Group rose 2.3%. The Australian dollar traded at $0.7236 U.S.
The two leaders are expected to talk trade after Washington and Beijing applied additional tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of each other's imports. Those moves prompted concerns about slowing global economic growth. Trump and Xi are set to have dinner on Saturday.
U.S. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow later told reporters Trump thinks there is a "good possibility" the two countries can reach an agreement. His comments came after the president told The Wall Street Journal that it was "highly unlikely" that the U.S. would delay from increasing tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25%.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 regained 41.69 points, or 1.3%, to 3,178.93
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 105.69 points, or 1.1%, to 9,884.31
In Korea, the Kospi index added 8.8 points, or 0.4%, at 2,108.22
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index restored 4.08 points, or 0.1%, to 3,094.48
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 40.14 points, or 0.5%, to 8,713.96
In Australia, the ASX 200 ducked lower 3.2 points, or 0.1%, to 5,725.08
