Hong Kong Stocks Finish On Positive Note

Hong Kong shares closed higher on Wednesday, having swung back and forth through the day, with traders turning their focus to an upcoming speech by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell later in the week.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 0.2 percent, or 38 points, at 26,270.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was barely moved, inching up 0.3 points to 2,880, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dipped 0.1 percent, or 1.5 points, to 1,572.

Rising hopes for China-US trade talks have provided a much-needed lift to markets over the past two days but with few fresh catalysts, dealers are keeping their powder dry ahead of Friday's address by Powell.

"Our trade-war headline-inspired relief rally appears to have run its course as I suspect there is still a lot of nervousness among US investors as the global economic realities are just too hard to ignore," said Stephen Innes at Valour Markets.

Tokyo ended down 0.3 percent, Sydney fell almost one percent, Singapore shed 0.3 percent and Wellington was 0.9 percent lower. Taipei finished flat and Seoul added 0.2 percent. (AFP)