Asian markets rose Wednesday with renewed hopes that the Trump administration and House Democrats were close to a deal on a new coronavirus relief measure. 

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index finished 0.3% higher.  The S&P/ASX index in Australia closed 0.1% higher. South Korea’s KOSPI index gained 0.5%, and the TSEC index in Taiwan rose 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite lost three points, but was unchanged percentage-wise. 

In late afternoon trading, both the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong and the Sensex in Mumbai are up 0.8%.   

In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,922.30 an ounce, up 0.3%.  U.S. crude oil is selling at $41.26 per barrel, down one percent, and Brent crude is selling at $42.68 per barrel, down 1.1%.   

All three major U.S. indices are trending positively in futures trading.