Asian markets little changed as investors weigh trade-war developments

By Marketwatch and Associated Press

Reuters

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. headquarters in Hong Kong.

Asian markets were muted in early trading Tuesday amid positive developments on the U.S.-China trade front.

President Donald Trump said Monday that trade negotiations on a “phase one” deal are going faster than expected, and said the deal would “take care of “ U.S. farmers and bankers. Later in the day, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it is considering extending tariff exemptions that were approved last December on $34 billion in Chinese goods.

The news did not boost Chinese stocks though. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI +2.70%   slipped 0.3% after administrator Carrie Lam said the ongoing pro-democracy protests risked sending the city into recession, while the Shanghai Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP +1.95%   fell 0.4% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598015/delayed CN:399106 +1.30%   retreated 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK +0.51%   rose 0.5% and South Korea’s Kospi /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +1.29%   slipped 0.2%. Benchmark indexes in Taiwan /zigman2/quotes/210597977/delayed TW:Y9999 +1.66%  , Singapore /zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed SG:STI +0.78%   and Indonesia /zigman2/quotes/210597981/delayed ID:JAKIDX +0.28%   were up slightly. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO +0.82%   was little changed.

Among individual stocks, Mazda Motor /zigman2/quotes/204777714/delayed JP:7261 +3.91%   and Kobe Steel /zigman2/quotes/207391157/delayed JP:5406 +9.09%   gained in Tokyo trading while Canon /zigman2/quotes/207639533/delayed JP:7751 +0.65%   fell. In Hong Kong, food processor WH Group /zigman2/quotes/204247792/delayed HK:288 +1.60%   surged while HSBC /zigman2/quotes/202687335/delayed HK:5 +2.66%   and Tencent /zigman2/quotes/204605823/delayed HK:700 +3.58%   dropped. Samsung /zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed KR:005930 +0.48%   inched down in South Korea, while BHP /zigman2/quotes/201448516/delayed AU:BHP +3.54%   and Rio Tinto /zigman2/quotes/200083756/delayed AU:RIO +2.02%   gained in Australia.

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

29,880.42

+784.56 +2.70%

Volume: 3.23M

March 3, 2021 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,576.90

+68.31 +1.95%

Volume: 34.77B

March 3, 2021 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210598015/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:399106

Shenzhen Composite Index

CN : Shenhzen Stock Exchange

2,363.11

+30.35 +1.30%

Volume: 35.51B

March 3, 2021 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

29,559.10

+150.93 +0.51%

Volume: 0.00

March 3, 2021 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

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KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

3,082.99

+39.12 +1.29%

Volume: 2.21M

March 3, 2021 3:30p

/zigman2/quotes/210597977/delayed

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Taiwan TAIEX

TW : Taiwan Stock Exchange

16,211.73

+264.85 +1.66%

Volume: 0.00

March 3, 2021 1:33p

/zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed

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FTSE Straits Times Index

SG : Singapore: SGX

2,996.93

+23.06 +0.78%

Volume: 0.00

March 3, 2021 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/210597981/delayed

Add to watchlist ID:JAKIDX

JSX Composite Index

ID : Indonesia Stock Exchange

6,376.76

+17.55 +0.28%

Volume: 0.00

March 3, 2021 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

6,818.00

+55.70 +0.82%

Volume: 591,222

March 3, 2021 5:58p

/zigman2/quotes/204777714/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:7261

Mazda Motor Corp.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 904.00

+34.00 +3.91%

Volume: 5.89M

March 3, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

¥545.39 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥67.95M

/zigman2/quotes/207391157/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:5406

Kobe Steel Ltd.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 708.00

+59.00 +9.09%

Volume: 13.40M

March 3, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

¥237.20 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥45.79M

/zigman2/quotes/207639533/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:7751

Canon Inc.

JP : Japan: Tokyo

¥ 2,327.00

+15.00 +0.65%

Volume: 3.91M

March 3, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

39.50

Dividend Yield

3.44%

Market Cap

¥2400.57 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/204247792/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:288

WH Group Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 7.00

+0.11 +1.60%

Volume: 29.17M

March 3, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

10.94

Dividend Yield

4.50%

Market Cap

HK$101.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$1.87M

/zigman2/quotes/202687335/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:5

HSBC Holdings PLC (HK Reg)

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 46.25

+1.20 +2.66%

Volume: 28.01M

March 3, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

30.90

Dividend Yield

2.52%

Market Cap

HK$925.25 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$2.56M

/zigman2/quotes/204605823/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:700

Tencent Holdings Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 723.00

+25.00 +3.58%

Volume: 18.29M

March 3, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

51.51

Dividend Yield

0.17%

Market Cap

HK$6630.61 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$6.80M

/zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:005930

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

KR : S. Korea: KRX

₩ 84,000.00

+400.00 +0.48%

Volume: 17.92M

March 3, 2021 3:30p

P/E Ratio

21.87

Dividend Yield

1.69%

Market Cap

₩552413.27 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/201448516/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:BHP

BHP Group Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 50.87

+1.74 +3.54%

Volume: 6.20M

March 3, 2021 4:10p

P/E Ratio

25.61

Dividend Yield

3.95%

Market Cap

$235.02 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/200083756/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:RIO

Rio Tinto Ltd.

AU : Australia: Sydney

$ 129.75

+2.57 +2.02%

Volume: 1.47M

March 3, 2021 4:10p

P/E Ratio

15.12

Dividend Yield

4.73%

Market Cap

$188.01 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.36M