Asia Markets: Asian markets gain after Wall Street hits record highs

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Asian markets rose in early trading Tuesday, following record closing highs on Wall Street and more encouraging news on a trade deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.42%   hit its first record high in four months, joining the S&P 500 SPX, +0.37%   and Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.56%  , which both closed at record highs for the second day in a row. Stocks were boosted by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and optimism over the likelihood of a “phase one” trade deal between the U.S. and China.

The Financial Times reported Monday that the U.S. was considering rolling back tariffs on $112 billion in Chinese goods as a concession to reach an initial deal, with China expected to show a similar good-faith effort. The Wall Street Journal later reported similar news, saying both sides would remove some tariffs if a deal was reached.

Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +2.02%   surged 2% as traders returned from a Monday holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.53%   rose 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.68%   gained 0.7% and the Shenzhen Composite 399106, +0.42%   advanced 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.35%   edged up 0.3% while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, +0.36%  , Singapore STI, +0.31%   and Indonesia JAKIDX, +0.67%   all rose. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.34%   rose 0.3%.

Among individual stocks, SoftBank 9984, +2.74%   and oil producer Inpex 1605, +5.94%   jumped in Tokyo trading. Honda 7267, +2.56%   and Sony 6758, +1.59%   also gained. In Hong Kong, Apple component makers Sunny Optical 2382, +2.64%   and AAC 2018, +2.33%   advanced, and LG Electronics 066570, +1.04%   rose in South Korea. Beach Energy BPT, +1.25%   gained in Australia while Westpac WBC, -2.26%   sank.