Asian shares mixed as US, China set to resume trade talks

Technology and health care companies drove a broad slide in U.S. stocks Wednesday, erasing some of the market’s solid gains from a day earlier. The sell-off put the Dow Jones Industrial Average on track to end the month with a loss and marked the second drop for the benchmark S&P 500 index this week. (Pixabay photo)

TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday following a decline on Wall Street, as investors awaited a resumption of trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.6 per cent to 21,033.76 and the Shanghai Composite index sank 0.9 per cent to 2,994.94. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added nearly 0.7 per cent at 6,176.10. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8 per cent to 2,128.10, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2 per cent to 28,788.73. Shares were mixed in Southeast Asia and fell in Taiwan.

Technology and health care companies drove a broad slide in U.S. stocks Wednesday, erasing some of the market’s solid gains from a day earlier. The sell-off put the Dow Jones Industrial Average on track to end the month with a loss and marked the second drop for the benchmark S&P 500 index this week.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.36 per cent, raising some fears about a possible recession within the coming year.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.5 per cent to 2,805.37. The Dow slid 0.1 per cent, to 25,625.59. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.6 per cent to 7,643.38. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 0.4 per cent to 1,522.23.

The Trump administration and Chinese officials are about to hold their eighth round of trade talks in Beijing with several tough issues unresolved, including a timetable for lifting tariffs and a way to enforce any agreement.

Many analysts say they expect some limited agreement to be reached in the coming weeks or months. Yet it’s unclear how far any accord would go.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 25 cents to $59.16 a barrel. It fell 0.9 per cent to settle at $59.41 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gave up 22 cents to $67.02 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 110.04 yen from 110.51 yen. The euro rose to $1.1258 from $1.1244.

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AP Business Writer Alex Vega contributed to this report.