Asian stocks today: Markets trade in green after US-China fears ease; Nikkei gains over 1300 points; HSI up by 2%

Asian markets rose on Monday, boosted by Japan’s Nikkei, as the country moves closer to naming its first female prime minister. Investors are also watching US inflation data due this week, expected to have only a minor impact on plans for further rate cuts. Nikkei rallied 1383 points, up 2.9% to reach 48,965. Hong Kong’s HSI is trading at 25,854, up 2.4% or 607 points. Shanghai also added 26 points to reach 3,866 and Kospi gained 50 points or 1.34% at 10:10 AM IST.Markets also relaxed after comments from US President Donald Trump over the US-China trade dispute over the weekend. Investors were encouraged by data showing China’s economy grew more than expected in the third quarter. The gains built on a positive mood from Wall Street, where all three main indexes bounced back from Thursday’s losses.Last week, sentiment had been hit by a flare-up in the trade standoff. Trump had threatened to hit China with 100 percent tariffs in response to its new controls on rare earth exports. This sparked more tit-for-tat measures and raised doubts over a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But tensions appeared to ease over the weekend. On Saturday, both sides agreed to hold further trade talks.Meanwhile, China’s annual growth slowed to 4.8%, the weakest in a year. Gold held strong after surging almost 6% last week to $4,378.69, trading at $4,263 an ounce, with $4,200 providing support. Oil prices edged lower amid abundant supply, with Brent down 0.4% to $61.02 a barrel and US crude down 0.5% at $57.24.