Asian shares gain despite doubts over US-China trade talks

Tokyo — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday amid doubts about the prospects for resolving the trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 percent in morning trading to 22,273.82 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9 percent to 2,268.16. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.5 percent to 27,729.63, and the Shanghai Composite jumped 1.4 percent to 2,737.13. Shares were higher in Taiwan and Southeast Asia but Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.9 percent to 6,288.60.

WALL STREET: The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 2,857.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.3 percent to 25,758.69. The Nasdaq composite recovered from a morning slide, adding 0.1 percent to 7,821.01 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks also rebounded, picking up 0.3 percent to 1,698.69.

TRADE TENSIONS: Investors are closely watching for any progress on ending the trade dispute between the U.S. and China. The costly, dueling tariffs between them are rattling global markets. Hopes rose late last week on news that China will send an envoy to Washington this month to discuss a way out of the standoff before President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in November.

ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude added 11 cents to $65.53 per barrel in New York in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It added 21 cents to $65.42 on Monday. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 4 cents to $72.25 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.09 yen from 110.06 yen late Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1522 from $1.1484.   /vvp