Asia report: Markets mixed on China trade talks, Aussie political turmoil
Markets in Asia finished in a mixed state on Thursday, as officials from the US and China met in Washington in a bid to find a resolution to the ongoing tariff war between the two countries.
AUD/USD
$0.6533
23:03 26/04/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1025
23:53 26/04/24
Hang Seng
17,651.15
10:20 26/04/24
Nikkei 225
37,934.76
09:44 26/04/24
USD/JPY
¥158.3270
01:54 27/04/24
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was ahead 0.22% at 22,410.82, as the yen weakened 0.25% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 110.84.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.37% higher at 2,724.63, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite added 0.63% to 1,463.69.
Talks on trade were continuing in DC, as the US imposed its latest round of punitive tariffs on the People’s Republic overnight, at a rate of 25% on $16bn of imports.
Beijing had previously indicated that it would retaliate equally to the measure, as it did with the last series of tariffs.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.41% at 2,282.60, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 0.49% to 27.790.46.
Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude last down 0.31% at $74.55 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate losing 0.09% to $67.80.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.34% lower at 6,244.40, led higher by Santos, which surged 11.32% after the oil and gas firm reinstated its dividend.
The country’s flag carrier Qantas was under the cosh, however, losing 2.83% even after it indicated a record underlying profit for the year.
Political upheaval was also a heavy theme in Sydney trading, as prime minister Malcolm Turnbull faced a second challenge for his premiership in less than two days from within his own party.
It came after finance minister Mathias Cormann resigned from his post, indicating he no longer supported Turnbull.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.2%, led lower by flag carrier Air New Zealand, which was off 4.3%.
The airline, which remains majority state-owned, reported a 2.5% improvement in full-year pre-tax earnings to NZD 540m, but remained more concerned about the current financial year as fuel costs continued to rise.
Air New Zealand and Qantas announced plans for a strategic alliance in June to codeshare on each other’s domestic flights in New Zealand and Australia respectively, leading to concerns over a loss of competition on cut-throat trans-Tasman aviation routes.
Both of the down under dollars were weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.89% at AUD 1.3727 and the Kiwi retreating 0.36% to NZD 1.4986.