Asian Shares Advance As Trade Tensions Ebb

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump flagged the possibility of a trade deal with China, saying he believed Beijing was sincere in its desire to reach an agreement. However, analysts remain doubtful that trade talks have really turned a corner.

Chinese shares gained ground as Beijing called for the resolution of trade dispute with the U.S. and a report showed profits at China's industrial firms returned to growth in July.

China's Shanghai Composite index rallied 38.63 points, or 1.35 percent, to 2,902.19 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged down marginally after protests turned violent in the western New Territories district of Tsuen Wan.

Japanese shares rebounded after steep losses in the previous session. The Nikkei average climbed 195.04 points, or 0.96 percent, to 20,456.08 after Trump said the United States would not imminently impose new tariffs on autos imported from Japan.

The broader Topix index ended up 0.79 percent at 1,489.69, with carmakers, tyremakers and car parts makers leading the surge.

Subaru Co, which has the biggest revenue exposure to the United States among Japanese carmakers, jumped 4.9 percent after Trump said Sunday that a trade deal with Japan "is done in principle." Bridgestone, Sumitomo Rubber, Yokohama Rubber and Suzuki Motor rallied 1-3 percent.

Market heavyweight SoftBank advanced 2.4 percent and Fast Retailing gained 1.8 percent.

Australian markets advanced, with banks, miners and high growth technology companies leading the surge after a rout in the previous session. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 index rose 31.10 points, or 0.48 percent, to 6,471.20 while the broader All Ordinaires index ended up 34.60 points, or 0.53 percent, at 6,565.60.

Banks ANZ, Commonwealth and NAB rose between 0.4 percent and 0.9 percent while mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto climbed 0.8 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively on fresh hopes of U.S.-China trade truce. In the tech sector, Afterpay Touch shares jumped as much as 7.8 percent.

Gold miner Evolution Mining slumped 5 percent, St Barbara plunged 5.9 percent and Regis Resources tumbled 3.4 percent. Energy stocks such as Oil Search, Santos and Woodside Petroleum ended with modest losses.

Wesfarmers gained 1.1 percent after its full-year profit more than quadrupled from last year. Reliance Worldwide advanced 5.8 percent after its annual profit more than doubled from last year on strong revenue growth.

Seoul stocks rose to snap a three-day losing streak after Trump announced the resumption of U.S.-China trade talks. The benchmark Kospi inched up 8.29 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 1,924.60. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics gained 1 percent and SK Hynix added 1.7 percent.

New Zealand shares eked out modest gains, with the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ending up 29.69 points, or 0.28 percent, at 10,513.16.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight after President Trump told reporters at the G-7 summit that top Chinese officials had called asking for the resumption of trade talks and prospects for a deal were better now than at any time since talks began last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 climbed around 1.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.3 percent.