Asian shares mostly gain as eyes turn to meetings at the White House and Jackson Hole

BANGKOK -- Asian shares were mostly higher Monday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite edged back from their record levels while the Dow inched to a new record close.

U.S. futures were little changed as investors watched for developments in the Ukraine crisis following a summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that brought no breakthroughs.

Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% to 43.714.31, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.1% to 25,291.42.

The Shanghai Composite index jumped 1% to 3,732.44.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.2% to 8,959.30.

The Kospi in South Korea declined 1.5% to 3,177.28 on heavy selling of semiconductor makers like Samsung Electronics, whose shares fell 2.2%. SK Hynix lost 3.3% as investors fretted over the possibility of more U.S. tariffs on computer chips.

Trump was preparing to meet later Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington.

The European vanguard were not included in Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday. They are seeking to present a united front in safeguarding Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.

An annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, of top central bankers later this week will be watched closely for hints about possible interest rate cuts from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. He is due to speak Friday at the economic policy conference.

“While the official theme is labor markets, investors will scrutinize any hint of September policy direction, especially after last week’s mixed inflation data,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary, adding that “any progress on Ukraine peace talks could push global equities higher still.”

Expectations have been building that the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, though mixed reports on the U.S. economy have undercut those bets somewhat.

One report Friday said shoppers boosted their spending at U.S. retailers last month, while another said manufacturing in New York state unexpectedly grew. A third said industrial production across the country shrank last month, when economists were looking for modest growth.

Yet another report suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is worsening because of worries about inflation, when economists expected to see a slight improvement.

On Wall Street, UnitedHealth Group jumped 12% on Friday after famed investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said it bought nearly 5 million shares of the insurer during the spring, valued at $1.57 billion. Buffett is known for trying to buy good stocks at affordable prices, and UnitedHealth’s halved for the year by the end of July because of a run of struggles.

Berkshire Hathaway’s own stock slipped 0.4%.

Applied Materials helped lead Wall Street lower with a decline of 14.1% even though it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The focus was on the company’s forecast for a drop in revenue during the current quarter.

Its products help manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays, and CEO Gary Dickerson pointed to a “dynamic macroeconomic and policy environment, which is creating increased uncertainty and lower visibility in the near term, including for our China business.”

Sandisk fell 4.6% despite reporting a profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts’ expectations. Investors focused instead on the data storage company’s forecast for profit in the current quarter, which came up short of Wall Street’s.

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher. The Nasdaq composite sank 0.4%.

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 24 cents to $63.04 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 16 cents to $66.01 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 147.41 Japanese yen from 147.18 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1705 from $1.1703.