HSI Snaps Three-day Winning Run, Pound Soars

Hong Kong shares closed with slight losses on Tuesday following three days of gains, while investors were fretting over the limited scope and lack of detail in last week's mini China-US trade deal.

The Hang Seng Index eased 0.1 percent, to 26,503.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 percent, to 2,991 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.1 percent, to 1,641.

Tokyo jumped 1.9 percent as dealers returned from a long weekend to play catch-up with the rest of Asia.

Sydney added 0.1 percent, Seoul was flat and Taipei put on 0.4 percent. Wellington, Mumbai and Jakarta were also higher. But Singapore, Bangkok and Manila were in the red.

"It has taken precisely one working day of the new week for optimism to fade about the US-China trade deal lite/mini/part one," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific at Oanda.

"The rhetoric-high, but detail-light trade announcement in Washington DC on Friday has been tempered by China being both a lot more circumspect and requesting additional talks before signing an agreement."

Sterling surged more than 1 percent to as high as US$1.2698, near levels not seen since June, before easing slightly. It also picked up against the euro while in Hong Kong, it moved up to HK$9.90.

The currency had already been rising after Britain's Daily Telegraph said a divorce agreement was forming, with EU and British negotiators hailing a positive day of talks on the Northern Ireland issue. (AFP)