Asian Equities Mixed as APEC Fails to Reach Consensus

Investing.com - Asian markets were mixed in morning trade on Monday following reports that leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) failed to agree on a communiqué for the first time ever.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, who was chairman of the meeting, said: “the two big giants in the room” were the two members of the APEC that could not agree.

O’Neill added that Beijing and Washington could not agree on whether “World Trade Organization and reform of the World Trade Organization” should be in the Leaders’ Declaration.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not join the meeting as Vice President Mike Pence attended instead of him.

“Of course the whole world is concerned about the debate about trade relations between China and the U.S.,” O’Neill said. “This is a situation where both the countries need to sit down and resolve. And I believe the G-20 meeting that is going to be on very shortly will be an opportunity for the leaders to sit down and resolve those issues.”

"Frankly speaking, we are in a very early stage of those discussions and different countries have different ideas as to how to take that process forward," said Wang Xiaolong, a senior economic official with China's APEC delegation.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while the Shenzhen Component slipped 0.2% by 9:09 PM ET (02:09 GMT).

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% after data from the Ministry of Finance showed the country’s exports rose 8.2% in October from the same period last year, compared to the expected 9.0% increase.

Official data revealed last week showed Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the third quarter due to natural disasters and sluggish exports.

"Japan's exports rebounded from a decline caused by natural disasters, but they are losing momentum compared with last year due to sluggish shipments to Asia caused by China's slowdown," said Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

South Korea’s KOSPI traded 0.4% higher, while Australia’s ASX 200 slid 0.7%.

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