Asian markets were mixed in afternoon trade on Monday after Wall Street ended on Friday after a report said Chinese and US negotiators were working on a plan to end a trade dispute that could lead to meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping In November 2018.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.29 percent, while the Topix index fell 0.35 percent, with most of the country’s auto manufacturers trading in the negative zone. Mitsubishi Motor was among the biggest losers by 1.25 percent.
In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.07%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.92% in the afternoon as all major casinos entered the positive territory. Notable was Macau wynn, which jumped 8.11 percent.
The Chinese mainland markets were in a mixed region with the Shanghai Composite Index up 0.11 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost its previous gains by 0.664%.
The Australian ASX 200 regained its early gains by 0.3% to trade near the flat level. The materials sector rose 1.12%, while the weighted financial subindex rate fell by 0.63%.
Shares in Australia’s main banks fell in morning trade. ANZ posted 0.78%, Commonwealth Bank fell 1.10% and Westpac fell 0.79 per cent. National Australia Bankeraed shares fell 0.42%.
The dollar index was flat at 96.17 on Monday, after falling nearly 0.6% at the end of last week.
The euro was at 1.1431 after rebounding from a 13-month low of 1.1297 last week, while the dollar was down at 110.47 yen.
In commodity markets, gold settled at 1184.00 an ounce after hitting its biggest weekly loss since May 2017. It hit a 19 month low of 1159.96 last week.
Meanwhile, major miners were in a largely positive territory with Rio Tinto relatively flat, with Fortesco recovering from its previous losses to 0.36% and BHP up 1.37 per cent.
Fortescu said on Monday its annual profit had fallen by half due to falling prices for lower quality iron ore. Mining said net profit after tax was $ 1.08 billion, down from $ 2.13 billion last year.