Asia markets were mixed in morning trade, as investors look to the trade talks between Beijing and Washington, and the new U.S. tariffs on $16 billion of Chinese imports which are set to take effect later Thursday.
Wall Street closed the Wednesday session with the Nasdaq higher and the S&P 500 a touch lower after marking its longest bull run.
Down Under, the ASX 200 was in negative territory in morning trade, down by 0.19 percent. Following the release of earnings before the market open, Santos bounced by 7.58 percent as it revived its dividend. In the airline space, Qantas Airways was down by 7.29 percent after its pre-market open announcement of a record annual underlying profit.
The Australian dollar weakened during Asian trade, down by 0.6 percent to $0.7302 at 9:42 a.m. HK/SIN.
The moves come amid political turmoil in the country as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces another challenge for the leadership of his party, following the resignation of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann earlier on Thursday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded in positive territory in morning trade at 0.16 percent up. South Korea's KOSPI was largely flat.
The Greater China markets were mixed in early trade. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.53 percent, with the materials sector declining 1.33 percent.
The Shanghai composite was flat while the Shenzhen composite traded up by around 0.21 percent.
|
Symbol
|
Name
|
Price
|
Change
|
%Change
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIKKEI | NIKKEI | 22403.90 |
|
41.35 | 0.18% |
| HSI | HSI | 27749.45 |
|
-178.13 | -0.64% |
| ASX 200 | S&P/ASX 200 | 6246.60 |
|
-19.40 | -0.31% |
| SHANGHAI | Shanghai | 2713.08 |
|
-1.53 | -0.06% |
| KOSPI | KOSPI Index | 2270.66 |
|
-2.67 | -0.12% |
| CNBC 100 | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | 8170.48 |
|
-47.31 | -0.58% |
U.S. and Chinese officials will continue trade talks in a bid to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two economic powerhouses. The discussions come as the U.S. prepares to impose an additional 25 percent duties on another $16 billion of Chinese imports later Thursday.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, traded at 95.321 as of 9:43 a.m. HK/SIN. The Japanese yen traded against the dollar at 110.84.
In the oil markets, Brent crude futures were down by 0.15 percent at $74.67 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were largely flat at $67.90 a barrel.
As Wall Street weighed the importance of the new political revelations surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump against the strength of corporate earnings, markets stateside finished the trading day in mixed territory.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of felony related to tax fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. Cohen also admitted to making payments to two women at Trump's direction.
Meanwhile, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts in a separate case.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 89 points to close at 25,733.60. The S&P 500 closed near flat at 2,861.82 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.38 percent to close at 7,889.10.
The moves overnight also coincided with the current bull market in the U.S. turning 3,453 days old – the longest on record. Some strategists do not see the revelations surrounding Trump as having a negative impact on the U.S. bull market.
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