Hong Kong Closes The Week With A Fall

Hong Kong stocks ended the week with losses on lingering China-US trade worries with traders also fretting over Donald Trump's decision to call off his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent, to 30,588.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.4 percent, to 3,141 and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 0.9 percent, to 1,810.

Tokyo ended slightly higher, while Sydney and Singapore each fell 0.1 percent while Seoul was 0.2 percent lower.

Manila and Kuala Lumpur also fell but Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were in positive territory.

While the overall mood was fragile after Trump's announcement, analysts said there was still hope the meeting will go ahead.

"As we've seen countless times before, the president tends to walk back some of his more boisterous rhetoric time and time again," said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at Oanda.

"While the US and their allies have offered a way to prosperity for North Korea, it was never going to come without some significant concession on the nuclear non-proliferation front."

And Eli Lee, Bank of Singapore's head of investment strategy, added: "Given the US' surprising acceptance of the meeting only in March, the cancellation... may simply be due to the fact that both sides need simply more time for preparation and to find a middle ground in terms of their demands." (AFP)