BCN-27, 28 Asian markets mixed as China, US agree to further trade talks

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ASIA-MARKETS-UPDATE

Asian markets mixed as China, US agree to further trade talks

HONG KONG, Feb 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Asian markets mostly rose Friday, with
investors treading carefully as China-US trade talks ended with no deal but
with both sides sounding notes of optimism and setting up more high-level
meetings later this month.

After the much-anticipated gathering, Donald Trump hailed “tremendous
progress” between the world’s top two economies but warned the “hard
deadline” of March 1 remained in place, after which US tariffs on billions of
dollars of Chinese goods will be imposed.

For its part, Beijing said they held “candid, specific and fruitful”
discussions and had agreed to increase cooperation on intellectual property –
– a major source of White House anger with China — and boost imports of US
goods.

Trump’s top two economic officials will visit Beijing later this month,
after which he said he will meet his counterpart Xi Jinping to hammer out the
final deal.

While the negotiations ended with no agreement, Jeffrey Halley, senior
market analyst at OANDA, said: “For the markets, which are clearly in ‘risk-
on’ mood, it was a case of no news is good news.”

However, an early surge across the region petered out to leave markets
mixed.

Tokyo ended 0.1 percent higher and Hong Kong was marginally lower, while
Shanghai jumped 1.3 percent as traders welcomed news that authorities had
relaxed certain rules to make investing easier.

Sydney and Singapore were both flat and Seoul dipped 0.1 percent, though
Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta were all up.

In early trade London rose 0.3 percent, while Frankfurt and Paris each
added 0.2 percent.

“The statement certainly signals progress, but at best limited progress on
the core long-term structural issues that separate the two sides,” Eswar
Prasad, a trade policy professor at Cornell University, told Bloomberg News.

“The statement ends with a not-so-veiled threat that China will need to
offer more substantive concessions to enable a deal that would take further
tariffs off the table.”

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ASIA-MARKETS-UPDATE 2 LAST HONG KONG

The tepid movement in markets also comes after an impressive month that
saw Hong Kong pile on more than eight percent and Tokyo more than four
percent, a much-needed bounce after December’s hammering.

Next on the agenda is the release of US jobs data later Friday, which comes
days after the Federal Reserve fuelled a rally by signalling a slowdown in
its pace of interest rate hikes this year.

The non-farm payrolls figures will be closely watched for an idea about the
state of the world’s number-one economy, with the Fed having warned of a
global slowdown.

– Key figures around 0820 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 20,788.39 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: FLAT at 27,930.74 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 2,618.23 (close)

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 6,987.23

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3096 from $1.3108 at 2200 GMT

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1439 from $1.1447

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 108.78 yen from 108.82

Oil – West Texas Intermediate: UP one cent at $53.80 per barrel

Oil – Brent Crude: UP eight cents at $60.92 per barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 24,999.67 (close)

BSS/AFP/HR/1450