Asian stock mostly rise on US, Mexico preliminary trade deal

TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday after the White House said it retached a preliminary agreement with Mexico on replacing a North American free-trade deal.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6 percent to 22,944.77 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ ASX 200 gained 0.7 percent to 6,313.50. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.2 percent to 2,304.78. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up nearly 0.2 percent at 28,314.15, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.2 percent to 2,774.78.

TRADE DEAL: Asian economies generally benefit from trade deals that will encourage exports to the U.S. The Nasdaq composite index topped 8,000 for the first time after the NAFTA news, although the trade deal isn’t final. The U.S. still needs to reach an understanding with Canada, the third party in the accord.

WALL STREET: The S&P 500 index climbed 22.05 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,896.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 259.29 points, or 1 percent, to 26,049.64. The Nasdaq composite gained 71.92 points, or 0.9 percent, to 8,017.90. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 2.73 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,728.41.

THE QUOTE: “Risk sentiment continues to improve with U.S. markets bolstered by the progress in the latest NAFTA progress, set to inspire Asian market higher into the session,” says Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

TOYOTA GAINS: Toyota Motor Corp. shares got a perk from the NAFTA news as the top Japanese automaker benefits from free trade. The manufacturer was also boosted by its announcement that it was investing $500 million in ride-hailing service Uber and will be partnership with Uber to build selfdriving cars. Toyota was trading up nearly 2 percent in the morning session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude inched down 1 cent to $68.86 a barrel. It edged up 0.2 percent to $68.87 a barrel in the New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 1 cent to $76.22 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.32 yen from 111.19 yen late Monday. The euro rose to $1.1676 from $1.1611.