Trade deal hopes boost Asian markets

REGIONAL markets gained on Monday, lapping up the possibility of a US-China trade deal as negotiations between the two countries appeared to advance over the weekend.

The US called off a tariff hike planned for this week as China agreed to purchase between US$40 billion and US$50 billion worth of US agricultural products. However, reaching a "phase two" deal will involve tackling significantly tougher issues, and analysts are more inclined to call the development a truce rather than a deal.

The optimism in markets in China, South Korea and New Zealand saw key indices add more than one per cent each. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.81 per cent at close, and Australian shares closed up 0.5 per…