Asian shares mixed as China targets growth in 2019

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press</span>
Published Tuesday, March 5, 2019 4:34AM EST

BANGKOK -- Shares were mixed in Asia on Tuesday after an overnight sell-off on Wall Street. But markets in China gained after the government set a 6-6.5 per cent growth target for this year, suggesting strong government support for the economy.

The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.9 per cent to 3,054.25, while the benchmark in Shenzhen, a smaller, more domestic-oriented market jumped 2.3 per cent to 1,710.87. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat, at 28,961.60.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the annual session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament that the government was setting the growth target close to last year's 6.6 per cent growth, which was a three-decade low. That shows official determination to shore up the cooling economy and prevent politically hazardous job losses.

Li promised higher spending on technology development. Beijing is also aiming to raise military spending by 7.5 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia the focus was mainly on an absence of news of fresh progress in China-U.S. trade talks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.4 per cent to 21,726.28. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.5 per cent to 2,179.23.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.3 per cent after the central bank opted to keep its key policy rate at 1.5 per cent. Shares fell in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia.

The upward momentum from Asia on Monday faded as investors grew impatient for more details on reports that the U.S. and China are moving closer to a deal to resolve their costly trade dispute.

The world's two largest economies have pulled back from an immediate escalation of their damaging trade war, with President Donald Trump postponing a deadline for raising tariffs on more Chinese goods, citing progress in a series of talks. Media reports say the nations could strike a deal this month.

Investors have been hoping for a resolution in the long-running trade dispute between the world's biggest economies, which centres on China's technological ambitions. Washington claims Beijing is stealing technology and forcing companies to turn over technology in order to do business.

The sell-off in New York on Monday centred mainly on health-related and technology shares that have made the most gains recently.

The S&P 500 index dropped 0.4 per cent to 2,792.81. The index, a benchmark for many mutual funds, is still up 11.4 per cent so far this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 per cent, to 25,819.65, while the Nasdaq composite lost 0.2 per cent to 7,577.57. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 14.20 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 1,575.44.

ENERGY: U.S. crude lost 36 cents to $56.23 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 1.4 per cent Monday to settle at $56.59 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 28 cents to $65.39 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.95 yen from 111.74 yen on Monday. The euro weakened to $1.1327 from $1.1341.

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AP Business Writers Damien J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.

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