Asian markets gain after Wall Street hits record highs

Asian markets rose in early trading Tuesday, following record closing highs on Wall Street and more encouraging news on a trade deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, +0.42%

hit its first record high in four months, joining the S&P 500

SPX, +0.37%

and Nasdaq Composite

COMP, +0.56%

, which both closed at record highs for the second day in a row. Stocks were boosted by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and optimism over the likelihood of a “phase one” trade deal between the U.S. and China.

The Financial Times reported Monday that the U.S. was considering rolling back tariffs on $112 billion in Chinese goods as a concession to reach an initial deal, with China expected to show a similar good-faith effort. The Wall Street Journal later reported similar news, saying both sides would remove some tariffs if a deal was reached.

Japan’s Nikkei

NIK, +1.76%

surged 2% as traders returned from a Monday holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index

HSI, +0.50%

rose 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite

SHCOMP, +0.77%

gained 0.7% and the Shenzhen Composite

399106, +0.63%

advanced 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi

180721, +0.51%

edged up 0.3% while benchmark indexes in Taiwan

Y9999, +0.75%