Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday as talks on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine appeared to make progress.
Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced, while Tokyo declined. Oil prices advanced less than $1 per barrel.
That followed Russia’s announcement it would scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and another northern city. It came as negotiators meeting in Turkey began to lay out a possible deal to end the five-week-old war.
“This was a nice add-on catalyst” to a market rally already under way, Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.3% to 3,245.22, rebounding from the previous day’s loss after Shanghai, China’s most populous city, closed most businesses to fight coronavirus outbreaks.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.3% to 27,893.92 after the government reported February retail sales declined by a bigger-than-forecast 0.8%. That left retail spending down 2% from its November peak.
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