TOKYO, May 8, (AP): Asian shares rose moderately Thursday after a lackluster finish on Wall Street, with most shares ticking higher after the Federal Reserve left its main interest rate unchanged, as was widely expected. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.4% in afternoon trading to 36,943.30. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 8,191.70.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3% to 2,582.07. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 0.5% to 22,807.50, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% to 3,353.81. Investors continue to watch with trepidation President Donald Trump 's comments about the trade imbalance, as well as the reactions from various nations to appease the US administration and the overall confusion over the long-term economic impact.

Geo-political tensions also weighed on market sentiments, centered around the standoff between India and Pakistan. Pakistan has said it will avenge those killed by India’s missile strikes, which New Delhi called retaliation for last month’s massacre of Indian tourists in India-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war and claimed it downed several Indian fighter jets.

The missiles killed 31 people, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country’s Punjab province, Pakistan’s military said. The strikes targeted at least nine sites "where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Two mosques were hit. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, coming off a two-day losing streak that had snapped its nine-day winning run.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 284 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Indexes swiveled repeatedly through the day, and the Dow briefly climbed as many as 400 points on hopes that the United States and China may be making the first moves toward a trade deal that could protect the global economy.

The world’s two largest economies have been placing ever-increasing tariffs on products coming from each other in an escalating trade war, and the fear is that they could cause a recession unless they allow trade to move more freely. The announcement for high-level talks between US and Chinese officials this weekend in Switzerland helped raise optimism, but some of that washed away after Trump said he would not reduce his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods as a condition for negotiations.