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·       Major Asian stocks markets closed higher on Monday amid trade optimism after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a postponement of a closely-watched deadline on March 1.

Shares in mainland China saw solid gains on the day following the positive developments. The Shanghai composite surged 5.6 percent to 2,961.28 while the Shenzhen component added 5.587 percent to 9,134.58. The Shenzhen composite jumped 5.417 percent to1,557.27.

Those moves took the Shanghai composite into bull market territory, or up at least 20 percent from intraday lows seen in early January. The Shanghai composite fell into a bear market, or down 20 percent from a recent high, in June 2018.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 0.52 percent in its final hour of trading. Shares of China Construction Bank gained more than 2.1 percent. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese network equipment firm ZTE advanced more than 2.3 percent, after leaping 13.9percent earlier, according to Reuters.

·       Japan’s Nikkei rallied to a 10-week high on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed he would delay a planned tariff increase on Chinese imports following “productive” trade talks over the weekend.

The Nikkei share average rose 0.48 percent to 21,528.23, closing at the highest level since Dec. 13.

“Sentiment is definitely boosted by this news,” said Toru Ibayashi, executive director of wealth management at UBS Securities Japan.

All the same, Ibayashi said further gains will be difficult to achieve once the initial excitement fades, noting the Nikkei is already trading above the psychological resistance level of 21,500.

“Investors are looking for more positive catalysts with Japanese companies’ earnings,” he said. “Since companies expect a decline in profits this year compared to the previous year, the upside is likely to be limited for a while.”

·       Chinese stocks posted their biggest single-day gains in more than three years on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods thanks to “productive” trade talks. 

China’s Shanghai Composite index surged 5.6 percent to end the day at 2,961.28 points, its highest close since June 15, 2018 and the strongest daily percentage gain since July 9, 2015.

Despite the jump in equities on Monday, Paul Sandhu, head of Multi-Assets Quant Solutions Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said he doesn’t expect a significant change in market dynamics in the short term.

“Tariff talk in the past has been the cause of market volatility and also a decoupling of the markets to some degree. As we have been through the talk around tariffs a number of times over the short horizon, much of this may be priced in,” he said.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC