In Asian Equity Markets indices traded higher on Tuesday afternoon following record finishes overnight on Wall Street. Hong Kong-listed shares of shares of Alibaba jumped around 7% by the afternoon, ahead of the broader market as the Hang Seng index fell  0.1%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.34% in afternoon trade. Meanwhile, shares in Australia gained as the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.75%. Shares of Westpac jumped more than 1.8% after the firm announced the resignation of its CEO and early retirement of its chairman. Shares of the lender have seen strong movements in recent days as the company is rocked by a money-laundering scandal.

In Currency Markets a telephone call between top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators lifted the dollar to a two-week high against the yen while China’s yuan edged up on Tuesday, due to optimism that the two sides will soon agree an interim deal to halt their trade war. The dollar rose as high as 109.205 yen, its strongest in two weeks, before settling back at 109.01 yen to show a gain of 0.1% from the previous close. The yuan also rose to 7.240 to the dollar, about 0.15% higher than the previous close. The euro softened to $1.1008, near the one-week low of $1.10035 touched on Monday.

In Commodities Markets oil prices were steady on Tuesday, hanging onto gains from the previous session, after comments from the United States and China kept alive hopes that the world’s two largest economies are soon to agree on ending their trade war. Brent crude futures were down 1 cent at $63.64 at 0331 GMT, after rising 0.4% in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 5 cents at $57.96, having risen 0.4% on Monday. Top trade negotiators from China and the United States held a phone call on Tuesday morning, China’s Commerce Ministry said, as the two sides try to hammer out a preliminary “phase one” deal in a trade war that has dragged on for 16 months.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes hit fresh record highs on Monday as a report that the United States and China were nearing a trade truce sparked a rally in Apple and semiconductor stocks, with sentiment also buoyed by a raft of blockbuster deals. Gains in trade-sensitive chip stocks, including Applied Materials Inc and Lam Research Corp, helped lift the Philadelphia Semiconductor index 2.28%. The S&P 500 was up 0.63%, at 3,130.01. Uber Technologies Inc fell 1.4% as the ride-hailing company was stripped of its license to carry paying passengers in London for the second time in just over two years.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Monday after the Treasury Department sold $40 billion in two-year notes to solid demand, the first sale of $113 billion in coupon-bearing supply this week. Primary dealers bought only 23% of the two-year sale, a sign that there was strong demand for the notes from fund managers and other investors. The Treasury will also sell $41 billion in five-year notes on Tuesday and $32 billion in seven-year notes on Wednesday. The bond market will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.