Asian shares markets slipped on Monday as investors waited for more clarity on the Sino-U.S. trade talks after recent negotiations, while oil gained more than 1% as Middle East tensions remained elevated.
Asian shares
- Chinese shares opened in the negative territory, with the blue-chip index down 1.5%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index (HSI) was 0.8% weaker after a weekend of sometimes violent protests that saw pro-democracy activists vandalize a railway station and shopping mall.
- South Korea’s Kospi was a touch weaker after disappointing trade data while Australian and New Zealand shares bucked the trend and were both about 0.3% higher.
- That left MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.3% at 509.94 points. It is still up more than 3% so far in September.
- E-mini futures for U.S. S&P 500 and the Dow, however, climbed nearly 0.4% each.
Currency
- The dollar gained 0.14% against the safe haven Japanese yen to 107.69 after easing 0.5% last week. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar was up 0.24% at $0.6780.
- The euro was a shade higher as was the British pound . That left the dollar index slightly weaker at 98.449.
Commodities
- Mideast tensions and worries about oil supplies helped Brent crude futures jump 1%, or 64 cents, to $64.92 a barrel.
- U.S. crude futures rose 0.98%, or 57 cents, to $58.66 a barrel.
