Asian Shares Mixed; Trump's Talks With Kim Collapse

Investing.com - Asian equities were mixed in morning trade on Friday. South Korea's KOSPI was down about 2% in the previous session following news that U.S. President Donald Trump walked away from the negotiating table with North Korea.

Trump's move was unexpected, as experts from both sides were reportedly expecting "some easy wins" during the meetings in Vietnam this week. The President also cancelled a pre-planned agreement signing with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, CNBC said, citing disagreement on North Korea's demands for complete removal of sanctions.

"They were willing to de-nuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that," Trump said in a post-summit press conference, noting that the summit had concluded on "very friendly" terms.

"The two leaders discussed various ways to advance denuclearisation and economic driven concepts," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders later added. "No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future."

South Korean markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday.

China's Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both gained 0.9% after the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 49.9 for February, higher than the expected 48.5 and last month's 48.3. However, it showed that manufacturing activity in February remained in contractionary levels.

Chinese stocks received some support today after White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC in an interview that Sino-U.S. trade talks are making "fantastic" progress. "I think we're headed for a remarkable, historic deal," he said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.2% even after the country's February manufacturing PMI contracted at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years.

The Final Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was a seasonally adjusted 48.9, slightly above a flash reading of 48.5 but below January's final 50.3.

Down under, Australia's ASX 200 gained 0.6%.

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