HSI Slips Tracking Wall Street, Shanghai Rises

Shares in Hong Kong ended the morning session lower on Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street as investors keep their focus on China-US trade talks.

The Hang Seng Index eased 0.3 percent, to 28,545 by the break.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8 percent, to 2,774, and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.9 percent, to 1,457.

Tokyo ended the morning down 0.4 percent, while Seoul and Singapore each retreated 0.4 percent. Taipei and Jakarta were also down, though Sydney and Wellington rose.

"Trade talks remain on track, but with little details on what the next moves are as the March 1 deadline approaches, the market paid more attention to the lower-than-expected US data on Thursday," said Oanda senior market analyst Alfonso Esparza.

On currency markets the US dollar held gains against most other currencies as the soft US data sparked a shift by investors towards the safer option, while the pound remains under pressure from ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

The Australian dollar was down but recovered pared losses that came on the back of a report that China had banned coal imports from the country, with tensions between the two becoming strained over Canberra's decision to ban telecoms giant Huawei's 5G equipment over security risks. (AFP)

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