Asian shares mixed as leaders hold Ukraine talks

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mixed in edgy trade Thursday as Western and Russian leaders try to broker a deal to end the Ukraine crisis, while Wall Street provided a tepid lead following an anaemic batch of economic data.

As the threat of an armed conflict in Eastern Europe has subsided, investor confidence in higher risk assets has slowly returned, sending the safe-haven yen falling against the dollar and euro.

Tokyo rose 0.30 percent and Hong Kong added 0.63 percent, while Shanghai dipped 0.49 percent, Sydney shed 0.10 percent and Seoul was flat.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris on Wednesday for the first time since the crisis began, and while no breakthrough was made both sides will try again later Thursday in Rome.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke on the phone about "possible scenarios for international co-operation" to end a confrontation that has raised fears of all-out conflict and sent global markets tumbling at the start of the week.

"With the crisis situation in Ukraine appearing to settle down for the time being, there´s a dearth of incentives on which to trade," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.

With diplomacy now taking centre stage over Ukraine, traders were able to focus again on economics. On Wall Street, the three main indexes ended mixed following below-forecast jobs data.The Dow slipped 0.22 percent, the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq added 0.14 percent.

- US jobs data disappoint -

Payrolls firm ADP said US private businesses added just 139,000 jobs in February, below the average of 186,000 over the prior 12 months and below expectations for 150,000.While the soft data was blamed in part on severe winter weather and job losses in financial services, the news has raised fears about the closely-watched government non-farm payrolls report due on Friday.

Adding to the bad news, the Institute for Supply Management said the harsh weather was partly to blame for the key US services sector expanding at its slowest pace in three years in February.

However, Federal Reserve´s Beige Book survey of the economy said that while the January-February freeze had hit activity, the outlook in most areas "remained optimistic", while growth was broadly "modest to moderate".

The regional review is used by Fed officials to set monetary policy, and economists hope to get some idea about whether the bank will further cut its stimulus programme when its policy board meets later this month.

On forex markets the dollar -- which fell to the mid-101 yen level this week -- bought 102.53 yen in early Tokyo trade, compared with 102.33 yen in New York late Wednesday. The euro was sitting at 140.77 yen against 140.57 yen, well up from the 139.35 yen seen Monday.

The euro bought $1.3729, down from $1.3736.Oil prices slipped. New York´s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for April delivery, fell 45 cents to $101.00 in early Asian trading, while Brent North Sea crude for April eased 20 cents to $107.56.Gold fetched $1,337.40 an ounce at 0220 GMT compared with $1,333.97 late Wednesday. (AFP)