Asian markets gain on renewed optimism about U.S.-China trade deal

By Associated Press and Marketwatch

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Namsan Tower rises behind the Korean Pavilion in Seoul, South Korea.

Asian shares were rising Thursday amid renewed hopes a U.S. trade deal with China may be nearing, despite tough recent talk from President Donald Trump.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -0.52%   gained 0.7% in early trading, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO +0.05%   added nearly 1%. South Korea’s Kospi /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 -0.27%   slipped 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI +2.28%   was up 0.4% while the Shanghai Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP +1.55%   rose 0.4%. Benchmark indexes in Taiwan /zigman2/quotes/210597977/delayed TW:Y9999 +0.17%  , Singapore /zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed SG:STI +0.06%   and Indonesia /zigman2/quotes/210597981/delayed ID:JAKIDX +0.36%   advanced.

Among individual stocks, Nippon Steel /zigman2/quotes/209782682/delayed JP:5401 -0.91%   jumped in Tokyo trading, while SoftBank /zigman2/quotes/207303954/delayed JP:9984 -0.94% ,  Fast Retailing /zigman2/quotes/200663563/delayed JP:9983 -0.87%   and Honda /zigman2/quotes/200490352/delayed JP:7267 -0.23%   also posted gains. In Hong Kong, Apple component makers Sunny Optical /zigman2/quotes/206687505/delayed HK:2382 +2.50%   and AAC /zigman2/quotes/201441510/delayed HK:2018 +2.45%  surged, and oil producer CNOOC /zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed HK:883 +0.15%   also rose. Hyundai Motor /zigman2/quotes/206684590/delayed KR:005380 -0.21%   sank in South Korea after announcing a $52 billion investment in electric and autonomous cars over the next five years. Beach Energy /zigman2/quotes/200513631/delayed AU:BPT +0.31%   and Woodside Petroleum   gained in Australia.

Shares on Wall Street finished higher Wednesday, with the gains snapped a three-day losing streak for the S&P 500. The U.S. market has swung sharply for months on every hint of progress about talks between the world’s largest economies, and Asian regional indexes have tended to reflect those fluctuations.

In the latest development, Bloomberg News reported that U.S. negotiators expect a “Phase 1” trade agreement to be completed before U.S. tariffs are set to rise on Chinese products Dec. 15.

The report came a day after Trump said he wouldn’t mind waiting until after the 2020 elections for a deal, a remark that officials reportedly called off the cuff but nevertheless sent markets skidding.

“The trade war will be the key driver of sentiment in the immediate few weeks,” DBS Group analysts wrote in a report.

The S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.34%   rose 19.56 points, or 0.6%, to 3,112.76. Despite recovering some losses, the index is still down 0.9% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA +0.17%   climbed 146.97 points, or 0.5%, to 27,649.78. The Nasdaq composite /zigman2/quotes/210598365/realtime COMP +0.51%   gained 46.03 points, or 0.5%, to 8,566.67.

Benchmark U.S. crude   lost 21 cents to $58.22 a barrel. It climbed $2.33, or 4.2%, to $58.43 per barrel Wednesday, as members of OPEC prepare to meet later this week and vote on production levels. Brent crude  , the international standard, slipped 7 cents to $62.93.

The dollar /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY +0.5556%   rose to 108.91 Japanese yen from 108.68 yen Wednesday.

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

32,402.41

-168.62 -0.52%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 22, 2023 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

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S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

7,068.80

+3.60 +0.05%

Volume: 917,754

Sept. 22, 2023 5:04p

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Add to watchlist KR:180721

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,508.13

-6.84 -0.27%

Volume: 433,184

Sept. 22, 2023 6:05p

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Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

18,057.45

+402.04 +2.28%

Volume: 1.92M

Sept. 22, 2023 4:08p

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Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,132.43

+47.73 +1.55%

Volume: 28.60B

Sept. 22, 2023 3:00p

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Taiwan TAIEX

TW : Taiwan Stock Exchange

16,344.48

+27.81 +0.17%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 22, 2023 1:33p

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FTSE Straits Times Index

SG : Singapore: SGX

3,204.82

+2.01 +0.06%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 22, 2023 5:20p

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JSX Composite Index

ID : Indonesia Stock Exchange

7,016.84

+25.38 +0.36%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 22, 2023 4:00p

/zigman2/quotes/209782682/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:5401

Nippon Steel Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 3,718.00

-34.00 -0.91%

Volume: 7.85M

Sept. 22, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

6.01

Dividend Yield

4.03%

Market Cap

¥3454.68 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥77.84M

/zigman2/quotes/207303954/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:9984

SoftBank Group Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 6,198.00

-59.00 -0.94%

Volume: 10.39M

Sept. 22, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

6.15

Dividend Yield

0.71%

Market Cap

¥7567.84 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥103.51M

/zigman2/quotes/200663563/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:9983

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 34,020.00

-300.00 -0.87%

Volume: 1.10M

Sept. 22, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

38.13

Dividend Yield

0.82%

Market Cap

¥10787.03 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥46.54M

/zigman2/quotes/200490352/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:7267

Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 5,255.00

-12.00 -0.23%

Volume: 7.04M

Sept. 22, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

10.20

Dividend Yield

2.85%

Market Cap

¥8817.24 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥89.85M

/zigman2/quotes/206687505/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2382

Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 57.50

+1.40 +2.50%

Volume: 4.18M

Sept. 22, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

37.57

Dividend Yield

0.87%

Market Cap

$61.39 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.29M

/zigman2/quotes/201441510/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2018

AAC Technologies Holdings Inc.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 13.40

+0.32 +2.45%

Volume: 3.55M

Sept. 22, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

24.17

Dividend Yield

0.90%

Market Cap

$15.68 billion

Rev. per Employee

$827,699

/zigman2/quotes/203421416/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:883

CNOOC Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 13.72

+0.02 +0.15%

Volume: 66.24M

Sept. 22, 2023 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.28

Dividend Yield

9.77%

Market Cap

$688.99 billion

Rev. per Employee

$23.81M

/zigman2/quotes/206684590/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:005380

Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd.

KR : S. Korea: KRX

₩ 191,500

-400.00 -0.21%

Volume: 326,229

Sept. 22, 2023 6:09p

P/E Ratio

5.25

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

₩45232.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/200513631/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:BPT

Beach Energy Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 1.63

+0.0050 +0.31%

Volume: 5.89M

Sept. 22, 2023 4:10p

P/E Ratio

9.25

Dividend Yield

2.46%

Market Cap

$3.69 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

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S&P 500 Index

US : S&P US

4,344.51

+14.51 +0.34%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 22, 2023 3:26p

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Dow Jones Industrial Average

US : Dow Jones Global

34,129.34

+58.92 +0.17%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 22, 2023 3:26p

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NASDAQ Composite Index

US : Nasdaq

13,291.73

+67.75 +0.51%

Volume: 3.44B

Sept. 22, 2023 3:26p

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Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

148.3970

+0.8200 +0.5556%

Volume: 0.0000

Sept. 22, 2023 3:26p