Asia stocks gain in cautious mood as U.S.-China tensions rise

Asia stocks rose on Wednesday led by Moderna coronavirus vaccine hopes though sentiment was cautious after China vowed retaliatory sanctions against the United States.

Chinese shares sold off, with the blue-chip CSI300 index flat and Shanghani’s SSEC off 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ticked up after spending most of the day in the red.

Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s benchmark index remained upbeat though, and were up 1.6% and 1.9%, respectively.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 gave back some of their gains but were still up 0.8%.