CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian markets ended with strong gains on Wednesday amid renewed optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal, after the two countries resumed talks earlier this week to end their disputes.
Markets also reacted positively to news about Canada granting bail to the detained Huawei Technologies Co.'s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanshou. Meng was apprehended at the behest of the U.S. last week.
As earlier reported, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism he could strike a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping and also said he would intervene with the U.S. Justice Department in the case against Wanzhou if it would help close a trade deal with China.
According to reports, China is cutting tariffs on imports of cars made in the U.S. to 15%, from the earlier levy of 40%.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended up 77.60 points, or 1.39%, at 5,653.50. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended up 76.10 points, or 1.35%, at 5,727.30.
Speedcast International jumped about 7.8% and Mayne Pharma Group shares gained more than 6%.
Galaxy Resources added 5.85%, Altium gained 5.6% and AHG moved up 5.3%.
Prominent losers included St. Barbara (down 3.6%), Regis Resources (down 3.1%), Northern Star Resources (down 2.4%), Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings (down 2.28%) and Lynas Corporation (down 2.1%).
The Japanese market rallied sharply on widespread buying. The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose as much as 454.73 points, or 2.15%, to 21,602.75.
The mood was so bullish that just 21 stocks out of the 225-stock strong Nikkei index failed to make it to the positive territory.
Yamaha Corp., Showa Denko K.K., Tokyo Electric Power, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Daikin Industries, JGC Corp., Toto, NTT Data Corp. and Kikkoman Corp. gained 5 to 8.5%.
Automobile stocks Yamaha Motor, Isuzu Motors, Suzuki Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Hino Motors, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor gained 2 to 4.3%.
Chemicals, foods, electric power, machinery and petroleum stocks ended with strong gains.
In economic news from Japan, the Cabinet Office said that core machine orders in Japan were up 7.6% on month at 863.2 billion yen, in October. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 9.7% following the 18.3% plunge in September.
The Bank of Japan said that producer prices in Japan were down 0.3% on month in November. That missed expectations for a decline of 0.1% following the 0.4% increase in October.
Shanghai's Composite index edged up by 0.31% with shares from oil, real estate and electricity sections leading the market up.
The Hang Seng index of the Hong Kong stock market gained about 1.6%. Markets in Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan also ended on a strong note.
The Indian market is trading higher, with the Sensex and the Nifty50 both gaining about 1.6%, with investors cheering the assembly elections results and the appointment of a new governor for the Reserve Bank of India.
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