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Shares in Asia trade mixed on Thursday morning as investors watched out for developments amid ongoing negotiations on the U.S.-China trade front.
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The Nikkei 225 in Japan was largely flat in early trade, while the Topix slipped fractionally.
Shares of Apple supplier Japan Display soared more than 7 percent following a Reuters report that the company would supply organic light-emitting diode screens for the Apple Watch later this year.
The supply deal would mark Japan Display’s foray into the OLED display market, Reuters reported citing two sources familiar with the matter. The company currently supplies liquid crystal display screens for the iPhone XR.
In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.21 percent as shares of chipmaker SK Hynix added 1.25 percent.
Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.56 percent in morning trade as the sectors declined.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39 points to close at 26,218.13 and the S&P 500 advanced 0.2 percent to end its trading day at 2,879.40. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent to close at 7,895.55.
Meanwhile, high-level trade negotiations between China and the U.S. resumed on Wednesday in Washington, and hopes were high that both countries were closer to a deal.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters Wednesday that China has acknowledged for the first time that the United States has legitimate gripes about IP theft, forced technology transfer and cyber hacking.
“They have for the first time acknowledged that we have a point. Several points,” Kudlow told reporters at an event hosted by The Christian Science Monitor. Previously, he said, “they were in denial.”
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.039 after seeing levels above 97.2 yesterday.
The Japanese yen traded at 111.37 against the dollar as it remained largely range-bound. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7113 after rebounding from lows below $0.708 yesterday.
Oil prices were mixed in the morning of Asian trading hours, as the international benchmark Brent crude futures contract advanced 0.1 percent to $69. per barrel and U.S. crude futures declined fractionally to $62.41 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Lauren Feiner contributed to this report.