Stocks in Asia were mixed on Tuesday as investors waited for developments from the second day of U.S.-China trade talks.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 165.07 points, or 0.8%, to 20,204.04. The Japanese yen, widely viewed as a safe-haven currency, traded at 109.03 against the U.S. dollar after seeing highs around the 108 handle yesterday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 39.75 points, or 0.2%, to 25,875.45
Shares of Japanese car-maker Nissan recovered from their earlier losses to gain 0.2% amid broadly positive momentum in the auto sector. The company’s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn denied wrongdoing in his first public appearance in seven weeks at a Tokyo court, following his arrest in November last year on allegations of financial misconduct.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese automaker Geely plummeted almost 11% after the company predicted flat sales for 2019.
Over in South Korea, markets were off slightly. Shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics slipped 1.7% after the company announced estimated fourth quarter earnings which fell far short of analyst expectations.
On the back of Samsung’s announcement, LG Electronics also saw its shares tumble 3.6% after it cautioned that its profits likely fell 80% in the fourth quarter.
Chipmaker SK Hynix, on the other hand, saw gains of 0.9%. The stock had earlier risen as high as 3% during the trading day.
Australian markets gathered strength, with the heavily-weighted financial subindex advancing 0.8% as shares of the country’s so-called Big Four banks mostly saw gains; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose 1.1%, Westpac advanced 1.2% and National Australia Bank gained 0.9%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, on the other hand, slipped 0.1%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7124 U.S. after touching an earlier high of $0.7149.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 backpedaled 6.6 points, or 0.2%, to 3,047.70
Investors were on the lookout for developments on the second day of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.
China said on Monday that it is willing to resolve its trade disputes with the U.S. on an equal footing,
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 20.14 points, or 0.7%, to 3,122.94
In Korea, the Kospi index deducted 11.83 points, or 0.6%, to 2,025.27
In Taiwan, the Taiex index dropped 26.7 points, or 0.3%, to 9,563.60
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 moved higher 15.11 points, or 0.2%, to 8,821.15
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 39.25 points, or 0.7%, to 5,722.44
