Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday after US retail sales stabilized in January, helping ease concerns over the state of the economy. The market sentiment was also bolstered after British Prime Minister Theresa May won legally binding assurances from the European Union in an updated Brexit deal, just ahead of a vote in the British parliament. Chinese shares ended higher on trade optimism after media reports suggested that Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He held a telephone call with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on key issues in their trade talks. Further, Japanese shares ended up, with gains in global equities and continued weakness in the yen helping underpin investor sentiment.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,060.31 | 33.32 | 1.10 |
Hang Seng | 28,920.87 | 417.57 | 1.46 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,353.77 | -12.66 | -0.20 |
KLSE Composite | 1,671.28 | 6.65 | 0.40 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,503.69 | 378.60 | 1.79 |
Straits Times | 3,212.25 | 20.83 | 0.65 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,157.18 | 19.08 | 0.89 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,343.33 | 93.05 | 0.91 |
