Asian stock markets gain following Trump's tax reform comments and positive Chinese data

Asian stock market indices were trading higher on Friday (10 Feb), with the Shanghai Composite up 0.57% at 3,201.46 as of 5.36am GMT following US President Donald Trump's tax reform comments and positive Chinese data.

Trump, in a meeting with airline executives, said his goal of lowering taxes for US businesses was moving ahead of schedule. While no details of the reforms were revealed, Trump said it would be announced over the next two or three weeks.

"The market loves the idea of tax reform…It has corporate tax cuts in its sights and if Trump can push that along, with a more simplified personal tax regime the US and global equities will find buyers," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

On Friday, China reported an increase in both exports and imports in January. While exports saw a 7.9% year-on-year increase, imports showed a 16.7% jump. Both were higher than expectations and helped improve investors' confidence in the world's second largest economy.

Jianguang Shen, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, said: "[The increase] is related to the global pick-up in growth in the U.S., Europe and also emerging economies."

Indices in the region were trading as follows at 5.53am GMT:

On 9 February, the FTSE 100 Index closed 0.57% higher at 7,229.50, while the S&P 500 index closed 0.58% higher at 2,307.87.

Among commodities, oil prices were in the green amid reports that demand could strengthen going forward. As of 12.44am EST, WTI crude oil was up 0.09% at $53.05 (£42.44) a barrel, while Brent crude was trading 0.05% higher at $55.66 a barrel.