Asian shares mostly rise on Wall Street optimism

TOKYO – Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday, cheered by the upbeat mood on Wall Street and hopes for a robust U.S. economy.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6 per cent to finish at 23,849.99. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 per cent to 6,135.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 per cent to 30,970.39, while the Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1 per cent to 3,414.27. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4 per cent to 2,502.80. Shares in Southeast Asia were mostly higher.

WALL STREET: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose to a record high close for a fifth straight session, gaining 0.2 per cent to 2,747.71. The last time the index led off a year with more consecutive gains was in 2010, when it had six. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.1 per cent to 25,283.00 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent to 7,157.39.

THE QUOTE: “A continuation of Monday’s bullish glow looks set for Asian markets into Tuesday with few data points to observe,” says Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

KOREAS: The region is closely watching talks between delegates from North Korea and South Korea, the first such talks in two years. North Korea agreed Tuesday to send a delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The talks followed a push by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for improved ties with the South after a year of elevated tensions over Pyongyang’s expanding nuclear and missile programs.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 112.78 yen from 113.13 yen late Monday. The euro fell to $1.1968 from $1.2032.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 50 cents to $62.23 a barrel. It rose 29 cents to settle at $61.73 per barrel Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 39 cents to $68.17 per barrel.

____

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama