Hong Kong Stocks Edge Up, Major Asian Markets Down

Hong Kong stocks rose in the morning session on Tuesday following a record lead from Wall Street but gains were limited with investors biding their time ahead of the corporate earnings season.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 percent, to 28,592 by the break.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.1 percent to 2,939, while the Shenzhen Composite Index was flat at 1,572.

Most other Asian markets fell as investors take a breather after a recent rally.

Tokyo led losses as it reopened after a long weekend, with the Nikkei ending the morning down 0.7 percent, hit by a stronger yen. Sydney also posted losses having swung back and forth in early business.

Wellington and Manila were also lower but Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta all eked out gains.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that top US and Chinese trade negotiators are due to speak by telephone in the coming days, but no face-to-face talks have been scheduled yet.

"With no meaningful progress since trade talks were restarted at the G20 sideline meeting at the end of last month, markets will slowly begin to fear that the nightmare scenario of another tranche of US tariffs could be coming to China," said Edward Moya, senior markets analyst at Oanda.

"The effects of the US-China trade war will continue to especially weigh on Asia."

Dealers are also keeping an eye on Beijing to see if it unveils any economic stimulus as data on Monday showed second-quarter growth at its weakest pace for almost three decades.

But Bob Doll, at Nuveen Asset Management, warned markets remained volatile.

"We are concerned about complacency as investors seem to believe the Fed will save the day, the US-China trade dispute will be resolved relatively soon and massive China stimulus will boost global growth," he said.

"We think this combination is a tall order. As a result, market risks lean more to the downside." (AFP)

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