SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares took off on Wednesday and sterling held near six-month highs as Britain and the EU made headway on a Brexit deal ahead of a leaders’ summit though it remained unclear if London could avoid postponing its scheduled departure on Oct. 31.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday, tracking gains in equities, as investors pinned hopes on a potential Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union and on signals from OPEC and its allies that further supply curbs could be possible.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped again on Tuesday after falling heavily in the previous session, as weak Chinese economic data for September added to lingering concerns about the feasibility of the U.S.-China trade deal announced by President Trump late last week.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks and Wall Street futures inched higher on Tuesday as some investors held out hope that Britain still had a chance to avoid a messy exit from the European Union at key negotiations this week.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The dollar hovered below 2-1/2-month highs against the yen on Tuesday, failing to extend recent gains as optimism over trade negotiations between the world’s two largest economies and for an orderly British exit from the European Union started to fade.

MORE than half of the country’s 1.08 million hectares of areas planted with rubber trees have been abandoned due to the low price of the commodity.