By Dow Jones Newswires
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Asian stock markets mostly gained Monday though investors remained cautious over tensions between the U.S. and China after a pan-Pacific summit ended without consensus on trade issues.
Japan’s Nikkei /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -0.94% rose 0.7% as the yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY -1.1173% bounced off some of its weakest levels of November versus the dollar. The dollar was at ¥112.80, versus a session low around ¥112.60. A report Monday found Japan posted a larger-than-expected trade deficit in October, mostly due to a surge in energy imports. Tokyo Electron /zigman2/quotes/202883609/delayed JP:8035 -0.80% was up 3.6% while Murata Manufacturing /zigman2/quotes/204266745/delayed JP:6981 -0.95% gained 1.2%. But life insurers were weak as some questions have emerged about whether the Fed will again hike rates next month and how many more may occur in 2019. Sony Financial was down 3%.
Hong Kong stocks put up a strong early start, then cooled a bit with the Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI -1.75% eventually closing up 0.7%. Internet heavyweight Tencent /zigman2/quotes/204605823/delayed HK:700 -2.54% was up slightly while smartphone-component maker AAC /zigman2/quotes/201441510/delayed HK:2018 -3.31% rebounded 4.7%. Utilities were a sore spot.
Chinese stocks moved in a relatively narrow band, with the Shanghai Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP -2.41% up 0.9% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598015/delayed CN:399106 -3.62% fell slightly initially but rebounded to close up 0.5%. Large-cap financial and energy stocks were slightly higher while health care and materials were a touch lower.
South Korea’s Kospi /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 -1.57% was firmer even as Samsung /zigman2/quotes/209800866/delayed KR:005930 -2.06% fell almost 1%, while the benchmark in Singapore /zigman2/quotes/210597985/delayed SG:STI -0.58% dipped and but Taiwan gained.
Australia’s ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO -0.28% fell 0.6% as energy stocks fell, and New Zealand’s benchmark /zigman2/quotes/211587880/delayed NZ:NZ50GR -0.61% slipped as well.
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