The stock exchanges in China took a leap upwards in Wednesday's early trading after it was announced that Beijing and Washington would meet in Switzerland for trade talks in the wake of Donald Trump's tumultuous tariff policy.
The happiest was in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng index had risen by 1.1 per cent by lunchtime.
The mood was also cheerful in Shanghai and Shenzhen, whose composite index rose by 0.5 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Relatively sunny was also the Kospi index, which added 0.4 per cent.
Also, Tokyo's Topix climbed by 0.4, while the important Nikkei 225 had a hard time making up its mind, fluctuating around zero.
