Asian markets ended in green on Wednesday, with encouraging US earnings and hopes for a US-China trade deal boosting sentiment. Chinese shares closed higher after US President Donald Trump told reporters the US-China trade talks are ‘going very well’ and added that an early March deadline to reach a deal could be postponed. Trump claimed China is ‘trying to move fast’ so that an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods currently set to take effect does not happen. Further, Japanese shares hit fresh nine-week high, with automakers and heavyweight SoftBank Group pacing the gainers despite the release of weak exports data. Report showed exports in Japan fell the most in more than two years in January as machinery goods orders fell sharply.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 2,761.22 | 5.57 | 0.20 |
Hang Seng | 28,514.05 | 285.92 | 1.01 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,512.78 | 18.11 | 0.28 |
KLSE Composite | 1,726.18 | 19.62 | 1.15 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,431.49 | 128.84 | 0.60 |
Straits Times | 3,278.38 | 18.58 | 0.57 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,229.76 | 24.13 | 1.09 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,272.46 | 120.20 | 1.18 |
