Asia report: Markets rise on news of US-China negotiations

Asian markets rose on Friday as investors cheered a thaw in US-China tensions after the two superpowers confirmed face-to-face trade negotiations will resume in the coming weeks.

The meeting will mark the first in-person discussions since a failed trade meeting at the end of July prompted the Trump administration to impose new levies on Chinese imports, with Beijing responding in kind.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "In recent months, there has been a lot of tough talk from both sides, but the prospect of the two sides sitting down, and holding trade talks has lifted sentiment. The trade spat has been going on for well over a few year, and it is unlikely to be wrapped up soon, but at the moment things are going in the right direction."

Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.54% at 21,199.57 as a weakened yen helped send exporters higher, with automakers Mazda and Subaru on the rise alongside construction machinery maker Komatsu.

The Japanese yen dropped 0.11% against the US dollar to 107.06.

In China, the Shanghai Composite ended the day 0.46% higher at 2,999.60, while the tech-heavy Shenzhen Composite climbed 0.36% to 1,657.50 in what was the best week since June for Chinese indices.

Trade war optimism and a pledge from Beijing to further boost the economy helped to underpin stock markets, with Hefei Metalforming Intelligent Manufacturing Co, Yangzhou Yaxing Motor Coach Co and Haohua Chemical Science & Technology Corp all rising by more than 10%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.66% higher at 26,690.76 as Guangzhou Automobile Group and Shenzhou International Group Holdings both rose by more than 3%.

However, the city was braced for further disruptive protests, with the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill having failed to appease some pro-democracy activists.

The South Korean Kospi rose by 0.22% to 2,009.13 as index bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 1.3%.

Brent Crude edged 0.05% higher to $60.98 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate inched 0.05% lower to $56.27.

Down under, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.52% at 6,647.33 as tech stocks led the way higher, with Afterpay Touch, Xero and cloud computing company Megaport all racking up solid gains.

On the other hand, Melbourne based medical imaging software developer Pro Medicus fell by more than 12% after its co-founders, Sam Hupert and Anthony Hall, sold A$72.2m worth of shares.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 jumped 1.01% to 11,218.99 as property stocks and power companies continued to attract heavy trading due to their reliable dividends, with Meridian Energy, Contact Energy, Mercury NZ, Goodman Property Trust and Genesis Energy all trading up.

Finally, the Australian dollar was 0.25% higher against the US dollar at A$1.46, while New Zealand's dollar rose 0.61% to NZ$1.56.