Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher Tuesday after President Joe Biden invited Republicans to a meeting to discuss economic aid, while silver eased off an eight-year high. Market benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul all advanced.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index gained 1.6 per cent, recovering some of the losses earlier in the week amid frenzied trading of video game retailer GameStop and other stocks targeted by novice day traders.

In Washington, Biden invited 10 moderate Republicans to the White House to discuss his proposed $1.9 trillion economic aid plan. Republicans earlier countered with an offer of $600 billion, or less than one-third of Biden’s proposed amount.“The sound of more stimulus, which tends to raise all boats, was music to the market’s ears,” said Stephen Innes of Axi in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5 per cent to 3,523.71 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 1 per cent to 28,376.20. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1.9 per cent to 29,453.37.

The Kospi in Seoul was 2.1% higher at 3,120.27 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 1.2% to 6,744.70. New Zealand and Jakarta retreated while Singapore and Bangkok rose. Silver declined after jumping at one point to its highest level in eight years.