Hong Kong Stocks Edge Up Ahead Of China-US Talks

Hong Kong stocks ended slightly higher on Thursday after swinging throughout the day, with investors concerned about the global economy, while attention now turns to the next round of China-US trade talks.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.2 percent, to close at 28,775.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 0.9 percent, to 2,994 and the Shenzhen Composite Index shed 0.9 percent, to 1,639.

Tokyo sank 1.6 percent as exporters were hit by a jump in the safe-haven yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6 percent, to close at 21,033.

Seoul dropped 0.8 percent and Taipei eased 0.1 percent, but Sydney rose 0.7 percent as they recovered from initial selling.

Singapore was up 0.3 percent, while Manila and Jakarta were also in positive territory.

Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at Oanda, warned the meetings between Chinese and American officials in Beijing were "taking on ever more importance".

"An agreement between both parties is the key macro-economic event for [the first half of] 2019 and will dictate whether we have a slow and low global pullback or if the day of reckoning arrives much sooner and more aggressively," he said in a note.

The two-day meeting is the first since China put into law new measures seen as an olive branch in their high-stakes stand-off, offering to address key issues including intellectual property and forced technology transfer.

On currency markets, the pound was essentially flat, having swung back and forth Wednesday after May's offer and then the rejection of eight possible Brexit plans by MPs. (AFP)