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Asia markets poised for cautious gains as trade tensions appear to ease

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Asian stocks were poised for slight gains on Tuesday after Wall Street rebounded on the first day of the trading week.
Asian stocks were poised for slight gains on Tuesday after Wall Street rebounded on the first day of the trading week amid a slight easing in trade tensions.
U. S. stocks more than reversed losses seen on Friday: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.84 percent, or 669.40 points, to close at 24,202.60, recording its largest one-day percentage gain since August 2015.
The S&P 500 advanced 2.72 percent to finish at 2,658.55 and the Nasdaq composite surged 3.26 percent to end at 7,220.54.
Trade tensions faded slightly on Monday, with U. S. Trade Representative Peter Navarro saying that he was “hopeful” China would work with the U. S. to address trade-related issues, although he defended the Trump administration’s move to impose tariffs of up to $60 billion on Chinese imports.
Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said during a Monday conference that the two countries should “stick to negotiations” to resolve their differences. China has reportedly offered to purchase U. S. semiconductors in a bid to alleviate its trade surplus with the U. S., according to the Financial Times .
Those moves followed a ramp up in trade-related tensions after Trump first signed off on tariffs against steel and aluminum imports earlier in the month. China responded to those tariffs on Friday when it proposed a list of 128 U. S. products it could potentially target.
Elsewhere, European markets closed with moderate losses in the last session, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 losing 0.77 percent. The losses came as more countries moved to expel Russian diplomats after the U. K. first did so following a nerve agent attack .
Over in Asia, futures pointed to cautious gains for regional stocks.
Japanese equities looked to be little changed at the market open, with Nikkei futures traded in Chicago higher by 0.07 percent at 20,780 compared to the index’s last close.
Elsewhere, the ASX 200 rose 0.48 percent as most sectors posted gains in the early going.
Several Hong Kong-listed corporates are due to report on the earnings front, including BYD, Fosun International and AAC Technologies. On the mainland, ICBC and China Construction Bank are also slated to announce results.
In currencies, the dollar slipped against a basket of rivals as investor sentiment improved. The dollar index edged lower to stand at 89.027 at the end of Monday, touching a five-week low in the session.
Against the safe-haven yen, however, the dollar firmed to trade at 105.47 at 6:55 a.m. HK/SIN, after slipping below the 105 handle on Friday.
Of note, the euro bounced following comments from European Central Bank member Jens Weidmann said that expectations for an interest rate hike toward the middle of 2019 were “not completely unrealistic,” Reuters reported. The euro last traded at $1.2449.
Here’s the economic calendar for Tuesday (all times in HK/SIN):

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