Stocks in Asia traded mixed on Thursday morning as bills backing protesters in Hong Kong were signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Mainland Chinese stocks edged up in early trade, with the Shenzhen component up 0.1% and the Shanghai composite was fractionally higher. The Shenzhen composite added 0.152%.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba continued to see strong gains as they jumped 3.16% in Thursday morning trade following their blockbuster debut on Tuesday, ahead of the broad market as the Hang Seng index slipped 0.2%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan was fractionally higher while the Topix index was slightly lower. Shares of Panasonic surged around 3% after the Nikkei Asian Review reported Thursday that the firm will sell its semiconductor business to Taiwan's Nuvoton Technology.
South Korea's Kospi also traded fractionally lower. Meanwhile, shares in Australia advanced, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.39% higher.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.08% lower.
Trump signed into law two bills backing protesters in Hong Kong, according to a White House statement. That move came despite past objections by China amid ongoing trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington for an anticipated "phase one" deal.
Hong Kong's government on Thursday voiced strong opposition to the move, saying it will send the wrong signal to protesters, Reuters reported.
"I don't think it makes (the deal) less likely," Todd Mariano, U.S. director at Eurasia Group, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "It's certainly an unwanted speed bump, i think, for the White House as it's trying to close out this deal."
"Hong Kong being such an issue of strategic national significance … for China and Trump having facing such an overwhelming vote in Congress, you know, puts him in a very difficult spot … on an issue that is extremely sensitive for the Chinese leadership," Mariano said.
Market sentiment has gotten a boost in recent days amid positive rhetoric on the U.S.-China trade front. On Tuesday, Trump said negotiators were close to reaching an initial trade deal. Trump's upbeat comments on trade followed a phone call between officials from the U.S. and China. The negotiators agreed to keep working on remaining issues.
Wall Street record
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.332 after touching highs above 98.4 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.38 per dollar after seeing highs below 108.8 earlier in the week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6765 after declining from levels above $0.678 yesterday.
Oil prices declined in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures shedding 0.3% to $63.87 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.41% to $57.87 per barrel.
— CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
https://ift.tt/2OpSzmg
November 28, 2019 at 06:34AM
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar