Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday as President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a document committing to work together to ?build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.?
Aside from the summit, investors also awaited cues from three major central bank meetings this week.
While the U.S. Federal Reserve is almost certain to raise rates again when it meets on Wednesday, the European Central Bank is likely to signal on Thursday that it will start to wind down its vast bond-buying program by the end of this year.
The Bank of Japan also concludes its two-day policy meeting on Friday, with analysts expecting no change to policy.
Chinese stocks ended higher, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbing 27.77 points or 0.9 percent to 3,080.55, snapping a three-session losing streak. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 39.36 points or 0.1 percent to 31,103.06.
Japanese shares hit a three-week high after Trump said he had ?developed a very special bond? with Kim during their historic summit.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index gained 74.31 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 22,878.35. The broader Topix Index also rose by 0.3 percent to end at a three-week high of 1,792.82, led by railway operators and food companies.
Australian shares eked out modest gains in thin trading on cautious optimism over the historic meeting between Trump and Kim.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 9.20 points or 0.2 percent to 6,054.40 as traders returned to their desks after the Queen?s birthday public holiday. The broader All Ordinaries Index inched up 8 points or 0.1 percent to end at 6,164.80.
Retail conglomerate Wesfarmers advanced 1.3 percent after it announced the completion of the sale of its U.K. business Homebas. Healthcare and industrial stocks also closed broadly higher, with CSL and Transurban Group climbing 1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Airline Virgin Australia jumped 2.3 percent following news that its chief executive John Borghetti will leave his role in 2020 after a decade at the company.
Meanwhile, weaker iron ore and base metal prices pulled down mining stocks, with BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group, South32 and Rio Tinto ending down 1-2 percent.
