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Asian shares advance after steady day on Wall Street

Posted April 04, 2017 7:00 am

By ELAINE KURTENBACH

A woman walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Tuesday after disappointing U.S. car sales data contributed to a bleak day on Wall Street. Investors are cautiously awaiting President Donald Trump's meeting with the Chinese president later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) The Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) - Shares advanced early Tuesday in Asia as markets in China caught up on gains following public holidays. Regional markets appeared to shrug off the latest North Korean missile test early in the morning.

Trading was light ahead of U.S. data releases and meetings later in the week between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3 percent to 18,856.81 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng also gained 0.3 percent, to 24,333.05. The Kospi of South Korea was flat, at 2,160.72. Australia's S&P ASX 200 inched up 0.1 percent to 5,858.50 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.8 percent to 3,246.55. Markets in Southeast Asia were mostly higher.

TRUMP CHINA: Trade agreements and regional tensions will be in focus as Trump and Xi meet Thursday and Friday at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. While some analysts expect the two sides to keep friction to a minimum by following a carefully worked on script, others worry Trump's past harsh criticism of China and mounting dissatisfaction with Beijing in American business circles augers ill for the summit.

QUOTABLE: "To some extent, the market's imagination appear to be running wild with the possibilities of the outcome from this meeting, especially given the impulsiveness we have seen from President Donald Trump thus far on issues regarding China. This will likely cause many to stay on the side-lines ahead of the meeting," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

U.S. DATA: The Commerce Department said U.S. factory orders kept growing in February thanks to greater demand for commercial aircraft. Boeing said it will sell $3 billion in aircraft to an Iranian airline, and its stock gained $2.05, or 1.2 percent, to $178.70.

WALL STREET: The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged nearly 0.1 percent higher to 2,360.16. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2 percent to 20,689.24 and the Nasdaq composite eked out a 0.1 percent gain, to 5,898.61. Despite the gains, slightly more stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Russell 2000 index, which contains smaller-company stocks, lost 0.1 percent to 1,368.18.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 16 cents to $51.19 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $51.03 per barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 12 cents to $54.29. On Monday, it gained $1.05, or 2 percent, to $54.17 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 110.75 yen from 110.96 yen. The euro edged up to $1.0679 from $1.0665.

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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed. His work can be found at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay

Follow Elaine Kurtenbach: www.twitter.com/ekurtenbach

A currency trader watches monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Tuesday after disappointing U.S. car sales data contributed to a bleak day on Wall Street. Investors are cautiously awaiting President Donald Trump's meeting with the Chinese president later this week. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) The Associated Press

A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Tuesday after disappointing U.S. car sales data contributed to a bleak day on Wall Street. Investors are cautiously awaiting President Donald Trump's meeting with the Chinese president later this week. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) The Associated Press

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