Asian Shares Rally As Sino-US Trade Tensions Ease

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Friday after China said it's evaluating the possibility of trade talks with the United States, raising hopes of trade war de-escalation.

Regional trading volumes were muted as mainland Chinese markets remained closed for Labour Day.

The dollar dipped ahead of U.S. payrolls data while gold recovered from a two-week low but was set for a weekly drop. Oil ticked higher after a fresh threat of U.S. sanctions against Iranian flows.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.74 percent to 22,504.68, with tech and EV stocks leading the surge fueled by speculation of a U.S.-China trade deal.

Japanese markets rose sharply, with exporters rising on a weaker yen after the Bank of Japan trimmed its growth and inflation forecasts.

Sentiment was also boosted by positive comments from Japan's chief trade negotiator. The Nikkei average climbed 1.04 percent to 36,830.69 while the broader Topix index settled 0.31 percent higher at 2,687.78.

Seoul stocks ended marginally higher, with disappointing results from Amazon and Apple limiting overall gains.

The Kospi average edged up by 0.12 percent to 2,559.79, led by shipbuilders and technology stocks. SK Hynix surged 4.8 percent and Hyundai Mipo Shipyard advanced 3.2 percent.

Australian markets ended sharply higher, led by energy, healthcare and consumer staple stocks on easing trade tensions.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.13 percent to 8,238 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 1.08 percent at 8,456.20.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index rallied 1.48 percent to 12,327.89.

U.S. stocks rose overnight as upbeat earnings news from software giant Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta Platforms helped ease concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) spending.

Economic data on the session painted a sluggish picture, with U.S. manufacturing contracting for a second straight month in April and initial unemployment claims posting an unexpected increase last week.

That followed Wednesday's data showing the U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years in the last quarter and hiring by private-sector employers slowed to the weakest pace in nine months in April.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.5 percent to reach its best closing level in over a month, while the S&P 500 added 0.6 percent and the Dow edged up by 0.2 percent.