Investing.com - Asian markets were mixed in morning trade on Tuesday amid reports that China and the U.S. are preparing next stage of trade talks.
Reuters reported that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spoke on the phone to discuss the roadmap for the next stage of their trade talks.
The conversation came after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to pause the planned increase of Jan.1 U.S. tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
However, the tension between the two countries remained high following the arrest of CFO at China’s Huawei Technologies last week.
The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite traded 0.3% and 0.5% higher respectively by 10:40 PM ET (03:40 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.2%.
Overnight, Wall Street had a volatile session which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from a 507-point drop. The Index closed 0.14% higher to 24,423. The S&P 500 added 0.18%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.74%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) swung from session lows after it filed an appeal to overturn a decision banning the sale of its iPhones in China.
A Chinese court had granted Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) an injunction against Apple banning the iPhone maker from selling most of its iPhones in China. The ban, which is not expected apply to Apple's latest slate of iPhones appeared to provide some respite for investors.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.3%. Softbank Corp. (T:9984) jumped almost 3% in the morning after the company announced shares of its mobile unit IPO would be priced at 1,500 yen apiece.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s KOSPI was little changed at 2,053.2. Australia’s ASX 200 edged up 0.1%.
In other news, U.K. prime minister Theresa May called off Tuesday’s vote on her Brexit deal so she could go back to Brussels and ask for changes to it.
The British Pound fell following the news as the market judged the risk of no-deal Brexit has increased.