CANBERA (Alliance News) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday despite optimism over US-China trade talks as US officials held a second day of trade talks with Chinese counterparts in Beijing.
The second day of negotiations coincided with an unannounced visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with some analysts saying China could use Kim's visit as a bargaining chip in the US trade talks.
China's Shanghai Composite index slid 0.26% to 2,526.46 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.15% to 25,875.45.
Japanese shares ended on a positive note after Amazon and Microsoft Corp fueled a second straight session of gains on Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei average gained 165.07 points or 0.82% to finish at 20,204.04 while the broader Topix index closed 0.39% higher at 1,518.43.
Automaker Honda Motor rallied 3.2% and Toyota rose 1.2% while banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial rose between 0.3% and 1.3%.
Takeda Pharmaceutical climbed 2.3% after completing its acquisition of Irish drugmaker Shire. Inpex and Japan Petroleum gained around 1% after crude oil prices rose more than 1% overnight.
Olympus Corp jumped 8.4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock's rating to "overweight" from "equal-weight".
Seoul stocks fell as investors monitored the second day of trade talks between China and the US. The benchmark Kospi dropped 11.83 points or 0.58% to 2,025.27. Samsung Electronics lost 1.7% after it partnered with tech giant Apple Inc. to bring iTunes content to Samsung smart televisions.
On the data front, South Korea posted a current account surplus of USD5.06 billion in November, the Bank of Korea said - down from the USD9.19 billion surplus in October. The goods account surplus stood at USD7.97 billion, down from USD11.46 billion in November 2017.
Australian markets closed notably higher amid signs that Beijing and Washington may be inching closer toward a trade deal.
Traders shrugged off weak trade data showing that the country had a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of AUD1.925 billion in November, shy of expectations for a surplus of AUD2.175 billion and down from AUD2.316 billion in October.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 39.20 points or 0.69% to 5,722.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended higher by 38.80 points or 0.68% at 5,783.30.
Banks ANZ, NAB and Westpac rose between 0.9% and 1.2%. Waste management giant Bingo Industries soared 5.7% after it offered to sell its Sydney processing plant to address antitrust concerns related to the planned acquisition of Dial-aDump.
Gold miner Evolution lost 3.4%, St Barbara tumbled 5% and Northern Star Resources declined 2.6% as dovish comments from the Fed boosted investors' appetite for risk.
Sleep device maker ResMed advanced 1.4% after completing the USD225 million acquisition of US-based asthma and pulmonary specialist Propeller Health.
New Zealand shares rose modestly, with the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index finishing up 15.11 points or 0.17% at 8,821.15.
U.S stocks rose overnight as the US and China resumed talks on their trade war and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would be "flexible" in its approach to monetary policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.3% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%.
