Asia Market Wrap: Stocks Mixed, Yuan Falls As US, China Reach Trade Deal

Stock Markets in Asia remained mixed in trading on Monday, even as the U.S. and China confirmed phase one of their trade deal on Friday.

What Happened

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Sunday told CNBC the trade deal between the two countries is "totally done" and will see the U.S. exports to China double in less than two years.

Markets in Asia surged on Friday after reports of the trade deal being reached. The Boris Johnson-led Conservative and Unionist Party's win in the U.K. general election also alleviated fears over the country's Brexit negotiations with the E.U.
That enthusiasm seems to have been short-lived. As CNBC noted, the details of the U.S.-China details are quite murky.

China has agreed to agricultural imports but has refused to say exactly how much it would import. The touted $50 billion yearly import figure for 2020-21 seems implausible, according to Nomura analysts, CNBC reported.

The agreement is expected to be signed in January in Washington, according to Lighthizer, but CNBC reported that Chinese officials require legal review and translation before a deal could be signed.

According to Scott Kennedy, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, this could be a yet another instance where the two governments have "prematurely declared" the trade deal.

Stock Market

Here's how the markets performed in Asia at press time:

China's Shanghai Composite traded 0.38% higher at 2,978.83, while the Shenzhen Composite was up 1.3%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) traded 0.36% lower.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.29% at 23,952.35. Tokyo Stock Exchange's TOPIX traded 0.18% lower.

South Korea's KOSPI was down 0.11% at 2,167.93. Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) added 1.26%.

Currencies

The Chinese yuan traded 0.13% lower against the dollar at 0.1429. The Japanese Yen traded at 0.0091 against USD.