Hong Kong Stocks Slip As Oil Prices Drop

Hong Kong stocks finished on Tuesday morning in the red with energy firms weighed by a sharp drop in oil prices, and despite optimism over the China-US trade talks.

The Hang Seng index dropped 0.4 percent, to 26,784.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.4 percent, to 2,968 while the Shenzhen Composite Index eased 0.3 percent to 1,653.

Seoul each edged up 0.1 percent while Tokyo went into the break 0.5 percent higher with Singapore jumping more than 1 percent.

Sydney was flat, while there were gains in Taipei.

"It looks as if we've pretty much hit the bottom in some sectors and we should actually be near an inflection point," Margie Patel at Wells Fargo Asset Management told Bloomberg TV.

"We've had the Fed cutting rates pretty much all of this year. It takes a while for that to feed into the economy. I think the worst is pretty much behind us."

Oil prices were flat after Monday's big losses that were sparked by reports of another pick-up in US stockpiles that indicate weakening demand, which offset the upbeat vibe caused by the trade talks.

Sterling rallied on the EU decision to extend deadline for Brexit, though analysts pointed out that the continued uncertainty was keeping a lid on the currency for now.

"Although a hard Brexit looks almost impossible now, electoral uncertainty will make pound rallies past $1.3000 nearly as unlikely in the near-term," said Halley.

In Hong Kong, the British currency was trading at HK$10.08. (AFP)

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