Asian markets recorded a strong session

Asian markets in their first trading session for the new week turned green amid continuing optimism over the trade war.

Major Chinese stocks rose, with Shanghai Composite up 0.28%, Shenzhen Component up 0.62% and Shenzhen Composite up 0.56%. In Hong Kong, Hang Seng jumped 1.18% as the rally was led by insurance company AIA. The company's shares jumped more than 2% at the opening.

Elsewhere, in South Korea, Kospi rose 1.33%. Semiconductor maker SK Hynix led the rally in South Korea, up 2.17%.

In Australia, the ASX200 advanced 0.5%, with almost all sectors of the index remaining in positive territory. However, the heavy financial sub-index decreased by 0.6%. Westpac's stock was halted after the bank announced a fresh capital raising program after the bank experienced a 16% drop in net income.

September retail sales for Australia showed a 0.2% rise for the month, with expectations rising 0.5%.

MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.83%.

Markets in Japan remained closed for a national holiday.

The US dollar remains weak, trading at 97,232. The Japanese yen is trading mixed but remains in the red territory at 108,218. The Australian dollar is trading at 0.6912.

Oil prices started declining. BRENT reports a decrease of 0.57%, crude oil CRUDE reports a decrease of 0.53%.

Gold is trading at a decrease of 0.19%.

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