Asian shares are mostly higher after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start talks about ending the war in Ukraine.

Asian shares mostly rose Wednesday, as regional markets continued to watch President Donald Trump’s latest tariff escalation.

Asian shares mixed as DeepSeek lifts Chinese tech stocks - Asian shares Friday were mixed, with Chinese technology stocks rising even as most Asian equities declined

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.1% in early trading to 38,746.96. The Japanese government reported a record current account surplus last year of 29 trillion yen ($191 billion), underlining strong returns on overseas investments, boosted by a weak yen and recovering Japanese exports.

President Trump has announced that he would implement tariffs of 25 percent on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S.