Australian, New Zealand shares cheered by Sino-US trade optimism

Australian shares advanced on Tuesday on signs that Washington and Beijing had made some headway in resolving a protracted trade row, while miners also benefited from a strong tailwind of higher commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index tacked on 0.3%, or 19.70 points, to 6,672.20, having ended flat the previous day.

Sentiment improved as China's Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Tuesday said the two countries have achieved some progress in their trade talks, a day after US President Donald Trump made equally positive comments on the prospects for ending the dispute.

The mining subindex rose 1% with BHP Group and Rio Tinto, the largest miners on the benchmark, adding about 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively. The uptick was underpinned as supply concerns bolstered prices of iron ore and copper. Financial stocks got a lift from National Australia Bank adding 0.5% and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group pulling 0.4% ahead.

Wealth manager AMP Ltd jumped 2.3% and closed at a 3-week high after its funds management arm announced a $6.2 billion fund raising. Energy stocks gained after two sessions of declines as oil prices steadied. Beach Energy added 1.7%, while Viva Energy Group rallied 4.6%. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3% to 11,090.39. Fonterra advanced 1.3%, after the dairy giant increased the 2019-2020 guidance range for the price it pays farmers to procure milk.