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

People walk past a bank electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index outside a Hong Kong local bank Thursday, March 28, 2019. Asian shares were mostly lower Thursday, following a slip on Wall Street, as investors watched the continuing trade talks between the U.S. and China.(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

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 percent to 21,033.76 and the Shanghai Composite index sank 0.9 percent to 2,994.94.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added nearly 0.7 percent at 6,176.10.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8 percent to 2,128.10, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent 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 percent, raising some fears about a possible recession within the coming year.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.5 percent to 2,805.37. The Dow slid 0.1 percent, to 25,625.59. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.6 percent to 7,643.38.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 0.4 percent 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 percent 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. /gsg