- Asian stocks are solidly bid on US-China trade news.
- Nikkei hits three-week highs.
Stocks in Asia are flashing green on Wednesday on signs of progress in the US-China trade war.
Notably, Japan’s Nikkei index rose to 21,745 earlier today, the highest level since July 4. The index is currently trading at 21.728, representing 0.52% gains on the day.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 is adding 0.84% or 56 points at press time. Aussie stocks seem to have picked up a bid on the decision by Westpac, one of the big four Australian banks, to bring forward the timing of the next rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to October from November.
Other major Asian equities are also gaining altitude with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng adding 250 points or 0.88%.
Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite index is up 1.15%, while the futures on the S&P 500 are flat-lined and South Korea’s Kospi is down 0.18%.
Risk sentiment was boosted in the North American session yesterday after a Bloomberg report said that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would be traveling to Shanghai next week for meetings with Chinese officials.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow called it a good sign and said he expects China to start buying US agriculture products soon.
As a result, Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.65% on Tuesday and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 0.68% and 0.58%, respectively.
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