Mainland and Hong Kong stocks rose after US President Donald Trump paused a planned attack on Iran and said there was a good chance of a nuclear deal.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 122 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,797 on turnover of HK$272.17 billion.

The China enterprises index was 41 points, or 0.5 percent, higher at 8,639 while the tech index was 12 points, or 0.3 percent, up at 4,857.

Across the border, the Shanghai Composite Index reversed losses to rise 38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,169.

The Shenzhen Component Index gained 39 points, or nearly 0.3 percent, to close at 15,569 while the ChiNext was six points, or 0.16 percent, lower at 3,908.

The combined turnover of the two main Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes amounted to 2.89 trillion yuan.

Semiconductor, electricity, robot and computing power leasing sectors led gains while those related to sports suffered the biggest losses.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei share average surrendered early gains to end 265 points, or 0.44 percent, lower at 60,550 as, like with the Nikkei, technology heavyweights tracked overnight declines in US peers even as positive data prompted investors to buy economically sensitive stocks.

In Seoul, the benchmark Kospi closed down 244 points, or 3.25 percent, at 7,271 as overnight losses in US chip stocks caused investors to book profits from a recent chipmaker-driven rally while their focus was also on Samsung Electronics' pay talks. (Xinhua & Reuters)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden