Investing.com - Asian equities rose in morning trade on Tuesday as investor sentiment received a boost amid news that U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May struck a Brexit deal with the European Union (EU).
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both jumped 1.6% by 9:50 PM ET (01:50 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.4%. Shares of the online food delivery-to-ticketing firm Meituan Dianping (HK:3690) plunged 6.79% after the company announced that its fourth-quarter operating loss more than doubled.
Markets continued to await news out of the Sino-U.S. negotiations. China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said over the weekend that the two sides have agreed on many crucial issues and have held meaningful discussions on foreign exchange.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 2%, while South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1%.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 edged up 0.4%.
Investors’ appetite for riskier assets was lifted after May’s deputy David Lidington said on Monday that the Prime Minister has secured “legally binding changes” that “strengthen and improve” the nation’s divorce deal from the EU. Further negotiations are ongoing in France, he added.
“Now is the time to come together, to back this improved Brexit deal, and to deliver on the instruction of the British people,” May said.
Overnight, U.S. stocks recovered from a week-long losing streak, with Nvidia gaining almost 7% following news that it has agreed to buy Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies Ltd for $6.8 billion.
Comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the weekend that the central bank is in no hurry to change interest rates level were also cited as supporting equities.