TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Monday after a buying spree on Wall Street sustained investor optimism into the new week, despite continuing worries over trade tensions.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent to finish at 21,821.16 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6 percent to 26,343.25. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.8 percent to 2,700.03 and India's Sensex climbed 0.4 percent to 35,586.70. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4 percent to 2,100.06. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6 percent to 5,693.70. Shares in Southeast Asia were mixed.
WALL STREET: The S&P 500 index rose 0.2 percent to 2,736.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 percent to 25,413.22 and the Nasdaq composite slid 0.2 percent to 7,247.87. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 0.2 percent to $1,527.53. But the S&P 500, which finished higher for the second straight day, ended the week with a 1.6 percent loss.
TRADE WORRIES: Clashes between China and the U.S. at a Pacific Rim summit over the weekend may signal limited prospects for a breakthrough in a standoff over the Trump administration's complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology as the price of market access. The U.S. has imposed a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods. That tariff is set to rise to 25 percent in January. Another $50 billion of Chinese goods already is subject to 25 percent duties. Beijing has responded with penalty duties on $110 billion of American goods. Talks continue ahead of a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump planned for the G-20 summit later this month.
JAPAN TRADE: Japan's trade deficit widened in October but its exports rebounded after they were slammed by natural disasters in September. Data from the Ministry of Finance showed exports grew 8.2 percent from the same month the previous year. In September, exports fell 1.2 percent from the previous year in the first decline for the world's third-largest economy since 2016. Imports in October grew 19.9 percent on-year.
THE QUOTE: "The APEC Summit held at Papua New Guinea, revealed just how deep the rifts between U.S. and China are, watering down hopes of an imminent U.S.-China trade deal that averts further tariffs," said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in Singapore.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil added 73 cents to $57.41 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 60 cents to $67.36 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 112.75 yen from 112.83 yen late Friday. The euro inched down to $1.1405 from $1.1417.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/yurikageyama/?hl=en
