ASIA MARKETS: Asian Shares Edge Higher As China-U.S. Trade Talks Planned
September 24 2019 - 1:46AM
Dow Jones News
By Associated Press
BANGKOK (AP) -- Shares edged higher in Asia on Tuesday after
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed that China-U.S.
trade talks were due to resume in two weeks' time.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.5% to 2,991.95 while Japan's
Nikkei 225 finished flat at 22,098.84.
In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index gained 0.4% to 26,320.93 after
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told reporters she hoped a "town hall"
dialogue this week might be a step forward in the "long journey" to
reconciliation after weeks of sometimes violent protests in the
semi-autonomous Chinese city.
In the latest of a slew of discouraging indicators, a
preliminary manufacturers survey showed factory activity slowing in
Japan last month.
The HIS Markit purchasing managers index fell to 48.9 in
September from 49.3 in August, on a gauge where 50 marks the break
between expansion and contraction.
It cited "strong external headwinds" for manufacturers,
including the prolonged tariffs war between Beijing and Washington
that has disrupted trade across the region.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Kospi in South Korea climbed 0.4% to
2,099.30 and Australia's S&P ASX 200 finished flat at 6,754.60.
Shares fell in Taiwan and Indonesia but were higher in Singapore
and Thailand.
Overnight, the S&P 500 index slipped less than 0.1% to
2,991.78 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 0.1%, to
26,949.99. The Nasdaq fell 0.1% to 8,112.46 and the Russell 2000
index of smaller companies lost 0.1%, to 1,558.25.
Losses in the health care, communication services and industrial
sectors outweighed gains in technology stocks, consumer-centric
companies and banks. Indicating investors are seeking to avoid some
risk, bond prices rose and yields declined, with the yield on
10-year Treasury notes slipping to 1.71% from 1.75% late
Friday.
The major share indexes are each up modestly for the month and
the quarter. The benchmark S&P 500 index remains close to its
all-time high set in late July.
Mnuchin said Monday that he expected talks on the U.S. dispute
with China over trade and technology to resume the week of Oct.
7.
Meanwhile, oil prices and the energy sector could experience
more volatility this week as Trump takes seeks a coalition to
confront Iran, which the U.S. blames for last week's strike on a
Saudi Arabian oil facility.
Benchmark crude oil lost 32 cents to settle at $58.32 a barrel
in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost
55 cents on Monday to $58.64 per barrel. Brent crude oil , the
international standard, declined 43 cents to $63.30 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 107.61 Japanese yen from 107.54 yen on
Monday. The eakened to $1.0990 from $1.0994.
Major stock indexes in Europe closed broadly lower as a gauge of
Germany's private sector activity contracted for the first time in
nearly seven years, according to IHS Markit.
Germany is Europe's largest economy and often acts as an
indicator for the continent's overall economic health. The latest
data adds to worries that Europe is facing a slowdown. The European
Central Bank is urging governments to spend more on stimulus as
economic growth stalls.
___
AP Business writers Alex Veiga and Damian J. Troise
contributed.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 24, 2019 02:31 ET (06:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.