Japan stocks led gains in Asia on Friday as investors welcomed a truce between Washington and Beijing, following a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

They reached a trade deal of sorts during a high-stakes meeting in South Korea on Thursday, de-escalating a dispute over rare earth elements that had threatened to push the world's two largest economies into a full-blown trade war.

"Both sides appear to be maintaining leverage for future negotiations by keeping these measures as bargaining chips," said JPMorgan Asset Management's global market strategist, Chaoping Zhu.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose over 2% to hit a fresh record of 52,411.34, while the Topix added 0.94% to 3,331.83, also scaling a new peak.

Shares of Panasonic Holdings fell o

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