Asian Stocks Mixed in Quiet Trade; Trump Confident on Trade Agreements
Investing.com - Asian stocks were mixed in morning trade on Monday, with China's financial markets closed all week for the Lunar New Year holiday, while South Korea’s KOSPI is also closed today.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1% by 9:45 PM ET (02:45 GMT). Tencent-backed Maoyan Entertainment (HK:1896), China's biggest movie-ticketing platform by sales, fell 2.7% in its Hong Kong stock debut today.
While not a directional driver, a private survey released on Sunday showed growth in China’s services sector dipped slightly from December levels.
The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell slightly to 53.6 in January from 53.9 in December, but is well above the 50.0 mark separating growth from contraction.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%. Sony Corp (T:6758) plunged more than 8% in morning trade after the company slashed its revenue outlook for the fiscal year, citing weaker-than-expected sales of cameras and smartphones.
The company sold 8.1 million PS4 consoles, compared with 9 million units a year ago. For total sales, Sony lowered its outlook to 8.5 trillion yen for the fiscal year through March, compared with the prior forecast for 8.7 trillion yen.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 was up 0.3%.
In other news, Bloomberg reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is confident he could reach agreements with both China and North Korea in the near future. Trade talks with Beijing are "doing very well," the president told CBS.
The South China Morning Post reported earlier that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may meet in Vietnam on Feb. 27-28.
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