Asian stocks rose on Thursday; trade talks may soon end

Asian stocks rose on Thursday as hopes the United States and China may soon end their year-long trade war boosted demand for riskier assets while worries about a U.S. presidential impeachment bid ebbed.

Asian Stocks

Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a limited trade deal on Wednesday that cuts tariffs on U.S. farm goods, Japanese machine tools and other products while further staving off the threat of higher U.S. car duties.

• MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.13%.
• Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.40%.
• Chinese blue-chip shares advanced 0.20%.
• U.S. stock futures were down 0.03% early in Asia.

Oil prices

Oil futures rose in Asia in a sign of cautious optimism about global economic prospects, but some investors warned that an end to trade friction is far from certain.

• U.S. crude ticked up 0.07% to $56.53 a barrel in a sign some investors anticipate higher demand for energy and fuel in the future due to stronger economic activity.

Bonds

• The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell slightly to 1.7025%.
• The two-year yield fell to 1.6615%.