Equity
Asian stocks pulled ahead and safe-haven government bonds came under further pressure on Wednesday on optimism the United States and China might be able to hammer out a deal to resolve their nearly year-long trade dispute.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.5 percent and Japan’s Nikkei climbed 1 percent.
Asia took its cue from Wall Street, where the Dow and Nasdaq each rallied about 1.5 percent overnight on optimism over U.S.-China trade negotiations and a tentative U.S. congressional spending deal to avert another partial government shutdown.
Currency
The dollar was on the defensive as investors shifted their money to riskier assets amid the U.S.-China trade-talk hopes.
The dollar index stood at 96.701 after its eight-day winning run came to an end overnight to push it away from a two-month peak.
The euro was a shade higher at $1.1333 having gained 0.5 percent the previous day, when it bounced from a three-month low of $1.1258. The dollar was steady at 110.53 yen.
Oil
In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures were up 0.73 percent at $53.49 per barrel after rallying 1.3 percent on Tuesday.
Oil prices surged on Tuesday after OPEC figures showed it cut production sharply in January, and as lead member Saudi Arabia said it would reduce its output in March by an additional 500,000 barrels.
