Asian markets were mixed in early trading Wednesday as investors remained unnerved about the global economic outlook.
U.S. Treasury yields saw little change Tuesday as the bond rally paused, while new data Wednesday showed China’s industrial profits dropped sharply in the first two months of the year, raising worries of a slowdown.
The U.S. and China will resume high-level trade talks Thursday in Beijing, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin attending the negotiations in Beijing.
Japan’s Nikkei
NIK, -0.61%
fell 0.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HSI, +0.51%
rose 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, +0.59%
gained 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi
SEU, +0.00%
advanced 0.1%. Singapore’s benchmark index
STI, +0.32%
gained, while stocks fell in Taiwan
Y9999, -0.13%
and Indonesia
JAKIDX, +0.92%
. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO, -0.21%
retreated 0.2%, and New Zealand’s NSX-50
NZ50GR, +1.20%
gained after that country’s central bank issued a dovish outlook, citing a higher risk of a global downturn, and said its next move would likely be an interest-rate cut.
Among individual stocks, Nissan
7201, -4.32%
, Toyota
7203, -2.56%
and Subaru
7270, -3.79%
slumped in Tokyo trading. In Hong Kong, CNOOC
0883, +3.33%
and Sands China
1928, +2.27%
rose, and LG Electronics
066570, +1.23%
and SK Hynix
000660, +0.96%
advanced in Korea. Rio Tinto
RIO, +1.52%
and Beach Energy
BPT, +3.01%
rose in Australia.
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Source : MTV
