Investing.com - Asian markets were mixed in morning trade on Monday, but Chinese stocks underperformed following reports that Sino-U.S. trade talks have hit a pause.
The Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component were down 0.8% and 2.1% by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT).
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was also down 0.6%.
The fall in Chinese stocks came after CNBC reported that further trade talks between Beijing and Washington are now being put on hold.
The news came after U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration imposed sanctions on Chinese giant telecom company Huawei. U.S.-based firms are now required to have a license if they want to conduct business with the Chinese company.
On Sunday, Reuters reported that Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has now suspended some business with Huawei and all Huawei-made phones will immediately lose access to updates to the Android operating system, the world’s most popular smartphone software. Newer Huawei smartphones coming out in the future will lose access to the Google Play Store and Gmail app, according to the report.
The company’s chief executive officer and founder Ren Zhengfei said he does not expect the sanction to affect the company too much because it has been preparing for it since last year.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% after data showing that Japan's first quarter GDP came in at 2.1%, confounding expectations for a contraction of 0.2%. However, traders remained cautious as the expansion was mostly due to imports declining faster than exports, likely reflecting weak domestic demand.
South Korea’s KOSPI traded 0.7% higher.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 climbed after a surprise election victory for incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison.