Asian shares mixed as Russia tensions weigh

Hong Kong - Asian shares were mixed on Monday, with the latest round of tensions between Russia and Ukraine exerting selling pressure despite some progress cited in the "difficult" negotiations between both sides.

Seoul was down 0.31%, Hong Kong slipped 0.18%, but Shanghai gained 0.41% while Tokyo and Sydney traded flat.

US shares rebounded late on Friday to end mixed after an early bout of selling on news that Ukraine had shelled Russian armoured vehicles after they entered its territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.30% at 16 662.91 points, after earlier having shed 0.50% on the news.

Worries that the incident would lead to a direct clash between the two ebbed after Moscow denied the incursion and Ukraine's foreign minister agreed to meet his Russian counterpart in Berlin on Sunday.

The two sides ended the "difficult" talks on the crisis with no concrete advances but "some progress", hosts Germany said, as clashes continued on the ground.

The nature of the progress was not disclosed by either party, but Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed the need for both nations to avoid "sliding ever deeper into a direct confrontation".

In currency markets, the dollar was at ¥102.41 in early Asian trade, compared with ¥102.34 in New York late on Friday.

The greenback is expected to gain in volatile forex trading this week, ahead of a speech by US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen.

Last month Yellen told Congress the Fed would hold its near-zero interest rate policy until the US economy strengthens, but may raise rates if the jobs market kept improving.

The euro bought $1.3391 and ¥137.15 against $1.3397 and ¥137.11 in US trade.

In oil markets, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was down 48 cents to $96.87, while Brent crude for October fell 68 cents to $102.85.

Gold traded at $1 299.83 an ounce at 04:53 compared to $1 313.53 an ounce late on Friday.