Asia opens higher ahead of US-China trade talks

Asian stock indices opened the second session of the week mixed with Japanese stocks up 2% after closing on Monday for a national holiday, with Australian, South Korean, and New Zealand stocks muscling up as well. 

Chinese, Hong Kong stocks fell on the other hand amid anticipation for upcoming US-China trade talks, with US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and other officials heading to Beijing later this week to resume negotiations. 

US President Donald Trump recently said he doesn't intend to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before the early March deadline for their truce, rousing concerns in the markets about returning tariffs if no deal was reached in time. 

Japan's Nikkei 225 rallied 1.93%, or 392.03 points to 20,725.20. 

China's CSI 300 inched down 0.12%, or 4.13 points to 3,302.34, as the Shanghai index slipped 0.07% to 2,652.09. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.42% to 28,025.54, while South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.27% to 2,186.66. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.64% to 9,286.62, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.27% to 16.35 points to 6,077.20.