Asian shares continue rally after Wall Street gains

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Friday, continuing their rally after gains on Wall Street and hopes that regional trade tensions may ease.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained nearly 1.0 percent to 23,042.83 in the morning session. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.6 percent at 6,165.30. South Korea's Kospi added 1.3 percent to 2,316.09. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7 percent to 27,206.18, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 percent to 2,679.99.

WALL STREET: The S&P 500 index gained 15.26 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,904.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 147.07 points, or 0.6 percent, to 26,145.99. The Nasdaq composite jumped 59.48 points, or 0.7 percent, to 8,013.71. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks dipped 1.38 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,714.32.

THE QUOTE: "Gains on Wall Street coupled with the softer U.S. dollar following U.S. inflation disappointments posed a more benign situation for Asia markets into the end of the week as we watch Chinese numbers," says Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

CHINA FACTOR: Investors are worried about the impact on the regional economy of trade tensions under President Donald Trump's tariff policies, amid reports of a new round of talks that would give the Chinese government another chance to address U.S. concerns before the Trump administration imposes bigger tariffs.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 18 cents to $68.77 a barrel. It slid 2.5 percent to $68.59 a barrel in New York Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 7 cents to $78.25 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.90 yen from 111.45 yen. The euro rose to $1.1692 from $1.1642.

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