Hong Kong Stocks Edge Up, Asian Markets Mixed

Hong Kong shares ended the morning session with small gains on Monday as investors brushed off worries about US-Iran tensions and focused on a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping this week.

The Hang Seng Index edged up 0.2 percent, to 28,538 by the break.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.1 percent, to 2,998 while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.3 percent, to 1,572.

Tokyo also opened slightly lower, weighed down by the US-China trade row ahead of this week's G20 summit and concerns over an escalation in US-Iran tensions.

The rest of the Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2 percent, the Kospi in South Korea edged up 0.1 percent, but Australia's S&P ASX 200 lost 0.1 percent. Shares fell in Southeast Asia and Taiwan also.

The China-US trade war continued to cast a shadow over the region after Washington announced it was blacklisting five Chinese organisations involved in supercomputing with military-related applications, citing national security.

"The Trump administration's further blacklisting of five Chinese tech companies ahead of the G20 meeting had perhaps not been the best piece of news for markets with sentiment hinging on US-China trade relations," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said worries over "the intensifying Middle East situation and a higher yen" are also expected to weigh on the market.

The dollar fetched 107.38 yen in early Asian trade, down from 107.60 yen in New York on Friday. (AP, AFP)

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