Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as investors look for concrete developments on U.S.-China trade as the threat of increased tariffs looms.
Asian Shares
- Mainland Chinese stocks shed gains from an earlier recovery to end their trading day lower, with the Shanghai composite declining 0.13% to about 2,903.19 and the Shenzhen component slipping 0.3% at 9,648.39. The Shenzhen composite also fell 0.227% to around 1,602.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was more than 0.1% higher, as of its final hour of trading.
- Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.28% to close at 23,437.77, while the Topix index gained 0.31% to end its trading day at 1,710.98. South Korea’s Kospi also advanced 0.31% to close at 2,127.85.
- The broader MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.35% higher.
- Overnight on Wall Street, stocks hit another record.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 55.14 points to close at 28,121.68.
- The S&P 500 finished its trading day 0.2% higher at 3,140.50.
- The Nasdaq Composite also added nearly 0.2% to close at 8,647.93.
Currencies
- The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.329 after seeing an earlier low below 98.3.
- The Japanese yen traded at 109.16 against the dollar after weakening from levels around 108.9 yesterday.
- The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6778 after seeing an earlier low of $0.6769.
Oil
- Oil prices slipped in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.11% to $64.20 per barrel.
- U.S. crude futures also declined 0.17% to $58.31 per barrel.
Source – Investing.com
