Asian shares edged up in muted trading Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of a summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.5 per cent in early trading Wednesday to 21,553.22. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 per cent to 6,144.70.
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2 per cent to 2,231.73. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent to 28,902.48, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.8 per cent to 2,964.58.
US stock indexes capped a day of wobbly trading with slight losses Tuesday, erasing some of their modest gains from a day earlier, reports AP.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.1 per cent to 2,793.90, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent to 26,057.98. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.1 per cent, to 7,549.30.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 0.7 per cent to 1,577.48. Major European indexes finished mostly higher.
US benchmark crude added 52 cents to $56.02 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was essentially flat at $55.50 a barrel in New York overnight.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 37 cents to $65.73 a barrel.
The dollar was flat at 110.58 yen. The euro fell to $1.1379 from $1.1388 on Tuesday.
