HSI Falls As Washington Squabbles Over Stimulus Deal

Hong Kong shares finished with small losses on Thursday as concerns about the lack of progress in US stimulus talks offset hopes for the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.1 percent, to 25,230.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was flat, at 3,320 while the Shenzhen Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent, to 2,216.

Tokyo ended up 1.9 percent as a recent drop in the safe-haven yen boosted exporters, while Singapore and Manila also added more than 1 percent. Seoul, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington were also higher.

But Sydney fell 0.7 percent and Manila shed 0.4 percent.

There had been concerns that rising tensions between China and the US could scupper this weekend's talks to review their trade pact signed in January.

But top officials on both sides have expressed confidence the deal will be kept in place and analysts said there was little desire from either side to scrap it.

"From the US perspective, imposing more trade taxes on US companies in the middle of a pandemic would generally be considered a bad thing for the stock market," said Stephen Innes at AxiCorp.

"After touting the stock market's miraculous recovery ... Trump would be vehemently against anything that would trigger a drop in stocks," he added.

"From China's perspective, Xi probably wants to keep US relations on good terms, given the strong likelihood of a change in the US administration with Democrats polling well." (AFP)