Asian shares up mostly on the optimism of the trade agreement between the two countries | national

TOKYO (AP) – Asian equities rallied for the most part on Wednesday, encouraged by the prospects for resolving the expensive US-China trade dispute, which also pushed Wall Street indices higher.

Japan's benchmark, Nikkei 225, rose 1.5% to 21,185.59 in morning trading, while the Australian S & P / ASX 200 fell 0.3% to 6,062.80. South Korea, Kospi, edged up 0.3% to 2,197.50. The Hong Kongese Hang Seng gained nearly 0.4% to 28,270.46, while the Shanghai Composite Index stood at 2,686.23, up 0.5%.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he could miss a March 2 deadline in trade talks with China if the two countries come close to an agreement. Earlier, the White House had called this date "hard deadline".

Both countries are trying to reach an agreement before March 1st. It is at this point that new tariffs will come into effect, exacerbating the conflict and hurting businesses and consumers, with higher prices on materials and products.

A trade dispute across the Pacific is affecting the export-dependent Asian region, and slower growth in China will hurt neighboring economies, such as Japan.

WALL STREET: The S & P 500 index gained 34.93 points, or 1.3%, to 2,744.73. The Dow gained 372.65 points, or 1.5%, at 25,425.76. The index was briefly up 405 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 106.71 points, or 1.5%, to 7,414.62. The Russell 2000 stock index of small companies, which topped the other indices this year, added 19.25 points, or 1.3%, to 1,538.23.

ENERGY: The US benchmark crude rose 50 cents to $ 53.60 per barrel. It increased 1.3% to $ 53.10 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 53 cents to 62.95 dollars a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar climbed to 110.63 yen against 110.50 yen on Tuesday. The euro has strengthened, rising from 1.1285 dollar to 1.1328 dollar.