Asia markets mixed with eyes on China-US trade

As a volatile week drew to a close, some stability emerged in the oil sector with earlier sharp losses tailing off, providing relief to regional energy firms

Asian markets swung throughout yesterday as investors weighed China-US trade speculation, while the pound struggled to stage a strong recovery from the previous day’s Brexit-fuelled bruising.

As a volatile week drew to a close, some stability emerged in the oil sector with earlier sharp losses tailing off, providing relief to regional energy firms.
Hopes that the world’s top two economies are making efforts to resolve their painful tariffs standoff provided support to global markets, though conflicting reports were keeping any optimism in check.

On Thursday it was reported that China had handed the US a number of trade concessions as part of a move to smooth relations ahead of a G20 summit where Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Financial Times also said the two sides were stepping up efforts and that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had told business leaders the next round of tariffs would be put on hold. While Lighthizer’s office denied that, observers said the news still provided some hope. “Maybe if we can get progress in trade relations, that could be a boost,” Jason Browne, chief investment strategist at FundX Investment Group, told Bloomberg News.

However, he added that “the benefits are likely to get offset from expectations of continued (interest rate) hikes from the Fed”.

And Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA, said it appeared the two sides were “looking to kick the can down the road until February to resolve some significant differences”. But he warned “the fear here is that this long and winding road to compromise could be dotted with numerous pratfalls”.

After shifting in and out of the red all day, Hong Kong finished 0.3 percent higher, while Shanghai closed 0.4 percent up but Tokyo was off 0.6 percent.

Sydney eased 0.1 percent, Singapore added 0.9 percent, Seoul rose 0.2 percent and Manila surged 1.9 percent. Jakarta and Mumbai were also up but Taipei and Wellington slipped.

Oil prices edged up for a third day, having been hammered by oversupply and weak demand concerns earlier this week.

Despite data showing another jump in US stockpiles the commodity is enjoying some much-needed buying interest after kingpin Saudi Arabia and OPEC said they are planning to cut output by more than the one million barrels earlier flagged. Adding to the upward pressure are simmering tensions between Riyadh and Washington over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with the US imposing sanctions on several senior officials in the Saudi government.

Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise, said the imposition of the sanctions “puts some risk back into the market”, which had been hit by a continuous build-up in US inventories.

In early European trade London rose 0.6 percent while Frankfurt and Paris each gained 0.7 percent.

HONG KONG (AFP)