Asian stocks advance after stimulus talks lift Wall St

Shares rose in Asia on Wednesday after revived hopes for more aid for the U.S. economy broke a four-day losing streak on Wall Street.

Japan reported weaker than expected export data for November, despite a recovery in trade with China, its biggest market.

Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% as investors grew hopeful that Washington can surmount its partisan divide to deliver more aid to the struggling economy. Technology companies powered much of the rally, which helped push the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite to an all-time high. An index of small-company stocks also set a record high.

Optimism over the economic outlook is rising as approval for a second COVID-19 vaccine may be imminent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3% to 26,757.40 despite the release of data showing exports fell 4% in November, while imports dropped 11% from a year earlier. Exports of vehicles, semiconductors and other manufactured items showed the biggest declines.

However, a monthly survey of manufacturers showed conditions improving, with the purchasing managers index at preliminary reading of 49.7 on a scale up to 100 where 50 markets the cut off for expansion. It was a 20-month high for the purchasing managers index of au Jibun Bank. The PMI was at 49.0 in November.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 0.8% to 26,412.50 and the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.5% to 2,771.20.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.7% to 6,679.20 and the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 3,370.44.

In the U.S., negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on another round of coronavirus relief have been dragging on for weeks. Fresh signs of cooperation Tuesday appeared to boost the market's confidence that Washington can get past its partisan divide and hammer out a deal.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers...