Asia markets broadly positive amid possible second Trump-Kim meeting

FAN Editor

Asia markets were in broadly positive territory on Tuesday morning after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite broke a four-day losing streak overnight.

The White House also announced that it was in the process of coordinating a second meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The Nikkei 225 was extended its gains, trading up by 0.98 percent in the morning .South Korea’s Kospi, however, lost its earlier gains and traded slightly down.

Down Under, the ASX 200 was higher by 0.46 percent as the financial sector rose 0.66 percent in the morning.

In the Greater China markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was largely flat in the early hours of trade. Over on the mainland, the Shanghai composite climbed up by 0.25 percent while the Shenzhen composite saw gains of around 0.13 percent.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped a four-day losing streak to close higher stateside. The S&P 500 rose by 0.2 percent to 2,877.13 while the Nasdaq Composite was up by 0.3 percent to 7,924.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , however, fell by 59.47 points to close at 25,857.07.

On Monday, the White House announced that Trumphad received a request from North Korea’s Kim for a follow-up meeting after their historic meetingin Singapore in June 2018.

Described by the White House as a “very warm, positive letter,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders informed reporters at the press briefing on Monday that the administration was open to the request and was “already in the process of coordinating” the meeting.

Trade also remains another focal point for markets, with Canada and the U.S. yet to secure a deal that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump announced last Friday that he was ready to slap tariffs on an additional $267 billion of Chinese imports, on top of the $200 billion already in the administration’s sights.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was at 95.248 as of 9:39 a.m. HK/SIN, rising from its earlier low.

The Japanese yen weakened further against the dollar at 111.40, while the Australian dollar also traded lower around $0.71 as of 9:41 a.m. HK/SIN.

The oil markets saw gains in the morning of Asian trade. Global benchmark Brent crude futures contract was up by 0.13 percent at $77.47 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were also slightly up at $67.59 per barrel.

“Crude oil prices failed to rally despite news that (South) Korea became the first top-three Iranian oil importer to cease Iranian-sourced oil imports to zero,” said OCBC Treasury Research in a morning note.

“We opine that market-watchers may continue to monitor potential supply surges, especially from Saudi Arabia and Russia, which in turn are effective in cushioning the production shortfall from Iran,” it said.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.

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