Yahoo Finance Asian Stocks Mixed; Kudlow Says Face-to-face Trade Talks Will Begin Soon
Investing.com - Asian stocks were mixed in morning trade on Thursday. Trade developments remained in focus as U.S. chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Washington and Beijing “will be scheduling face-to-face meetings” soon.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component were down 0.2% and 0.4% respectively by 10:35 PM ET (02:35 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%.
U.S. and Chinese officials are “on the phone,” Kudlow told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “They will be on the phone this coming week. And they will be scheduling face-to-face meetings. Lots of communications.”
The two sides agreed to resume negotiations and hold off imposing additional tariffs on each other’s goods over the weekend.
Citing people familiar with the situation, Bloomberg reported today that China is now considering buying some U.S. agricultural products as a gesture of goodwill.
Purchases could include soybeans, corn and pork, the sources said.
The news came after Trump vowed to allow U.S. companies to continue conducting business with Chinese tech giant Huawei, although details of the arrangement were not disclosed.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1%. South Korea’s KOSPI was little changed.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.4%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed higher. Data showed that private payrolls in the U.S. increased less than expected in June, raising expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could cut interest rates at its upcoming monetary policy meeting in July.
U.S. equity markets will be closed on Thursday for the Independence Day holiday. Non-farm payrolls report is due on Friday and is projected to show non-farm payrolls rose by 164,000 in June, rebounding from 75,000 the month prior.
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