Hong Kong shares closed higher on Thursday, led by property and tech stocks, while investors awaited more cues from ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China.

Chinese equities were broadly steady.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 1.61 percent at 21,395.14.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.52 percent to end at 7,897.44, and the Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 1.9 percent to end at 4,887.37.

Tokyo led Asian stocks higher as optimism over Japan-US trade talks offset Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell's warning that Donald Trump's tariffs could force officials to choose between fighting inflation or unemployment.

Investors are keeping a nervous eye on Washington for the next three months as governments scramble to cut deals to avert crippling tariffs that US President Donald Trump unveiled on his April 2 "Liberation Day" but then delayed for 90 days.

With Japanese companies the biggest investors into the United States, Tokyo's negotiations are of particular interest to markets – with some describing it as the canary in the coal mine – and traders took heart from early signs.

Trump posted on social media that there had been "Big Progress!" and Tokyo's envoy Ryosei Akazawa said: "I understand that the US wants to make a deal within the 90 days. For our part, we want to do it as soon as possible."

And while Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned that the talks "won't be easy", he said the president had "expressed his desire to give the negotiations... the highest priority".

Hopes that Trump's blistering tariffs can be pared back have helped temper some of the disquiet on markets after a rout at the start of the month fuelled by talk of a global recession and an upending of historic trading norms.

Some have said there were rumblings that the target of his most painful measures could be open to dialogue, with Bloomberg reporting that China wants to see some measures beforehand, including reining in some cabinet members' anti-Beijing comments.

Shares in Tokyo rose more than one percent along with Singapore and Mumbai, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta were also up. Taipei edged down along with London, Paris and Frankfurt. (Reuters/AFP/Xinhua)