Trade Talk News Lifts Hong Kong Stocks

Hong Kong shares rose on Monday morning, boosted by upbeat comments by China's top negotiator on progress in trade talks with the United States.

Vice Premier Liu He said at the weekend that Beijing and Washington had made "substantial progress" towards wrapping up a partial trade deal announced earlier this month.

The Hang Seng index added 0.3 percent, to 26,806.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was more or less flat at 2,937, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent, to 1,615.

Tokyo went into the break 0.3 percent higher with Singapore, Seoul and Wellington also up.

But Sydney shed 0.1 percent, while Taipei and Manila were also in the red.

He's upbeat comments provided a boost to the yuan, which rose 0.2 percent against the US dollar.

Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial Services, told Bloomberg TV: "It would be significant if they can get a phase one deal signed before Thanksgiving – the probability of that is probably a little bit over 60 percent right now.

"This is a very important issue, and I think it could remove a lot of uncertainty."

Sterling fell on Monday after MPs voted to delay passing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

In early Asian trade, the pound – which last week hit five-month highs on optimism for a deal – dropped 0.6 percent against the US dollar and the euro. In the local market, the sterling was trading at HK$10.12. (AFP)

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