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Chinese stocks jump after return from holidays

February 12, 2019 00:00:00


Markets in Asia were mixed on Monday with investors watching out for developments on the US-China trade situation, as negotiations are set to continue in Beijing later this week, reports CNBC.

The mainland Chinese markets, which were offline much of last week due to the Lunar New Year holidays, saw gains on the day.

The Shanghai composite rose 1.36 per cent to close at 2,653.90 while the Shenzhen component jumped 3.059 per cent to finish its trading day at 7,919.05. The Shenzhen composite gained 2.897 per cent to close at 1,347.94.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose about 0.6 per cent in its final hour of trade, with shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent gaining 1.97 per cent.

South Korea's Kospi recovered from earlier losses to finish its trading day higher by 0.17 per cent at 2,180.73, with shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics rising 0.45 per cent.

In Australia, the ASX 200 slipped 0.18 per cent to close at 6,060.80. The heavily weighted financial subindex fell 1.15 per cent as shares of the country's so-called Big Four banks declined.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group shed 1.3 per cent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 1.24 per cent, Westpac fell 1.53 per cent and National Australia Bank declined 1.62 per cent.

Japan's stock markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.

Investors will be watching for developments on the US-China trade front, with a new round of negotiations set to be held in Beijing later this week.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the two countries have not yet put together a draft on the matters they agree or disagree.

It comes as both Washington and Beijing are attempting to strike a deal on trade before a key March deadline, following which additional tariffs will be slapped on Chinese imports to the US.

US President Donald Trump also said Thursday he will not meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before that deadline.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.665 after seeing an earlier low of 96.619.


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