Asia stocks upbeat on US-China trade talk hopes

Investing.com--  Most Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, buoyed by optimism over ongoing U.S.-China trade talks, with reports suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering lifting chip export restrictions against Beijing. 

Regional markets took some cues from a mildly positive overnight session on Wall Street, as Trump signaled that Monday’s trade talks had gone well, and will extend into Tuesday. 

S&P 500 Futures rose 0.5% in Asian trade, amid a flurry of reports that Trump was mulling lifting some chip export restrictions on China to further improve trade ties. 

Focus this week is also on key U.S. consumer inflation data, due on Wednesday.

Chinese stocks edge higher amid US trade talks 

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1%. 

High-level Sino-U.S. trade talks began in London on Monday, sparking hopes that the world’s biggest economies will further deescalate their bitter trade conflict, after signing a temporary truce in May.

Reports on Monday suggested that Trump was open to walking back some recent restrictions on chip and technology exports to China as part of the trade negotiations. Talks between the two countries are set to continue on Tuesday. 

Trump had given Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s team to negotiate away some recent restrictions on tech sales to China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. This was aimed largely at making China unwind its restrictions on rare earth exports, of which the country is a major global supplier. 

But sentiment towards China was dented by a swathe of weak economic readings released on Monday, which showed local spending remained under pressure from heightened trade uncertainty. 

China’s export growth missed expectations in May, while inflation eased further last month, data showed on Monday.

Asia stocks upbeat amid trade hopes, tech gains 

Broader Asian markets advanced amid persistent hopes for a further deescalation in U.S.-China trade tensions, while gains in U.S. technology stocks, especially chipmakers, also spilled over. 

South Korean shares were a major beneficiary of this trend, with local stocks further extending last week’s rally after the liberal party won the presidential election. The KOSPI rose 1% to a 11-month high.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1%, while the TOPIX added 0.5% in extended gains following positive gross domestic product data on Monday. 

Australia’s ASX 200 index jumped 0.8% in catch-up trade, and was in spitting distance of a record high. 

Singapore’s Straits Times index was flat, while Gift Nifty 50 Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index rose 0.1%, pointing to a positive open for the index.