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Asia stocks trade higher amid optimism in US-China trade talks

Asia Pacific markets were all higher on Friday morning after a report that American officials may be weighing the possibility of easing tariffs on China, in a bid to push forward trade talks.

Shanghai composite index rose by more than 1 percent, the Shenzhen composite was 0.8 percent higher, while the Shenzhen component index rose more than 1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also traded higher by about 1.2 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.24 percent in morning trade while the Topix index added 1.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.6 percent.

Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 notched up nearly 0.6 percent in morning trade and the heavily-weighted financial subindex rose 0.65 percent.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin proposed lifting all or some of the tariffs on Chinese imports to give Beijing a reason to make deeper concessions in ongoing trade talks between the two countries.

But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer resisted the idea, worried that it could be considered a sign of weakness, the Journal added, citing people with knowledge to the matter.

A senior administration official told CNBC’s Eamon Javersthat “there’s no discussion of lifting tariffs now.”

However, analysts at Eurasia Group said that President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s desire to avoid tariff escalation reduces the probability of talks breaking down within the first half of the year.

“Fearful of the negative reaction of jittery markets to a collapse of talks, the two sides have taken a constructive approach, refusing to let lateral geopolitical, Iran sanctions, and cyber-related tensions sink negotiations,” the analysts said in a note.

“Rather than reach a comprehensive agreement by the theoretical deadline of 1 March, the two sides will extend talks,” they added, saying the extension could be for another 90 days.

Thursday’s report from the WSJ also sent U.S. stocks higher overnight.

Elsewhere, the U.S. president canceled his delegation’s trip to the World Economic Forum, citing the ongoing partial government shutdown.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, last changed hands at 96.069.

The yen, viewed as a safe-haven asset, traded at 109.33 at 10:03 a.m. HK/SIN, weaker than levels near 108.00 earlier in the week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7202 after seeing earlier lows of $0.7183.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.

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