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MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 1.3% on Friday afternoon in Asia. S&P e-mini futures ESc1 added 0.45%.

The bullish market mood came after a first day of trade talks between top U.S. and Chinese negotiators, characterized by Trump as “very, very good.”

· Japanese shares rose to their highest level in over a week on Friday as the safe-haven yen eased on hopes of progress in U.S.-China trade talks.

The benchmark Nikkei average ended up 1.2% at 21,798.87 points, its highest closing since Oct. 2. For the week, it was up 1.8%, its first gain in three weeks.

The broader Topix added 0.9% to 1,595.27, also marking its highest close in 1-1/2-weeks.

Seven & I jumped 4.9% to its highest since late March after the convenience store operator announcing restructuring plans, including job cuts and store closures.

Financial markets in Japan will be closed on Monday for a public holiday.

· China stocks rose on Friday to end the four-session week higher, as investors cheered signs of progress in the ongoing US-China trade talks.

The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.0 per cent, to 3,911.73, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.9 per cent at 2,973.66.

· With many investors worried about further economic damages from the U.S.-China trade war, even a “pause” in that bilateral fight would be a “big relief” to markets, according to an economist.

“Even if we just get a pause, I think that will be very good. I think it will be a big relief for markets, so I think we will get a risk rally,” Robin Brooks, managing director and chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.

Many analysts have low expectations for what the two sides could achieve in this week’s talks. Some said the U.S. and China could reach a limited deal for the time being, while others predicted that the next rounds of tariff increases scheduled for Oct. 15 and Dec. 15 would be postponed.

David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, warned that any deal reached by the two countries may not last. He noted there had been instances in the past when the U.S. and China appeared to have come close to reaching an agreement, only to have the tariff fight escalated all over again.

That’s especially so when issues such as alleged human rights abuses in China and the Hong Kong protests have complicated negotiations between Washington and Beijing, said Dollar.