Asian shares mixed as Harvey sends gasoline future spiking

HONG KONG - Asian stocks were mixed Monday after investors found no surprises from last week's key meeting of central bankers while gasoline futures spiked after Tropical Storm Harvey battered Texas' refinery-rich Gulf Coast.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.1 per cent to 19,430.65 and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4 per cent to 2,369.29. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.7 per cent to 28,038.48 and the Shanghai Composite in mainland China shot up nearly 1 per cent to 3,363.80. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7 per cent to 5,703.50.

STORMY WEATHER: Incessant rain from Harvey, which slammed ashore as a strong hurricane late last week, has submerged much of Houston and shut down Texas's oil and gas industry. It's unclear how bad the damage to facilities along the state's Gulf Coast but preliminary signs indicate widespread losses, which will have big implications for the U.S. economy and oil and gas prices. Gasoline futures spiked in trading. S&P Global analysts said about 2.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity were down or being brought down by Sunday.

NO SURPRISES: The gatherings of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was last week's big economic event but investors found no surprises in speeches by Fed chief Janet Yellen and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi. There was nothing to change investors' expectations that the Fed will continue to gradually raise interest rates and prepare to trim its $4.5 billion balance sheet.

MORE MISSILES: North Korea fired three more missiles over the weekend while South Korea pressed on with military drills involving U.S. troops. The latest moves renewed concerns about tension on the Korean Peninsula, though the fallout in stock market trading in Seoul appeared to be limited.

MARKET VIEW: "No clear policy clues from the Jackson Hole central bankers' symposium left investors pondering the impact of the storm in Texas on Gulf Oil production and North Korea testing three more missiles," said Rob Carnell, head of Asia research at ING.

WALL STREET: Major U.S. benchmarks finished slightly higher on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 2,443.05. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 per cent to 21,813.67. The Nasdaq composite dipped 0.1 per cent to 6,265.64.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 16 cents to $47.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 44 cents to settle at $47.87 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 19 cents to $52.18 per barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 109.18 Japanese yen from 109.36 yen on Friday. The euro eased to $1.1926 from $1.1827.

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