Asian markets mixed as U.S.-China trade talks resume

Asian markets were mixed in early trading Thursday, as the U.S. and China kicked off a new round of trade talks in Washington.

China’s chief negotiator, Liu He, was scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, and Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, expressed optimism that the two sides can come closer to a final agreement this week.

Read: Kudlow hopeful that U.S., China will ‘get closer’ to trade deal as talks resume

Japan’s Nikkei

NIK, +0.04%

rose 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index

HSI, -0.52%

retreated 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite

SHCOMP, +0.56%

gained 0.4%, and South Korea’s Kospi

SEU, +0.21%

advanced 0.2%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index

STI, -0.14%

fell slightly, while Indonesia’s JSX

JAKIDX, +0.36%

gained. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200

XJO, -0.91%

fell 0.8%

Among individual stocks, Japan Display

6740, +5.95%

rallied in Tokyo trading after a report that it would supply OLED screens for Apple Watches starting later this year. Meanwhile, e-commerce company Rakuten

4755, +2.37%

gained while oil producer Inpex

1605, -3.29%

slipped. In Hong Kong, CNOOC

0883, -1.78%

and AIA Group

1299, -1.24%

fell, along with many companies in the real-estate sector. Samsung

005930, +0.64%

edged up in Korea, while Beach Energy

BPT, -3.83%

, Oil Search