Emerging shares dip on trade and geopolitical tensions

Emerging market shares and currencies fell on Thursday, rattled by a double whammy of fading hopes of a U.S-China trade deal and an unsatisfactory end to the U.S.-North Korea summit.

MSCI's index of emerging market shares slid the most in two weeks, falling 0.6 percent, and was set to post a second straight monthly loss.

On the day, most Asian shares were in the red, while South African stocks traded more than half a percent lower, on course for their worst day in three weeks.

U.S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's comments overnight that the issues between United States and China are "too serious" to be resolved, prodded investors into scaling back risk as hopes of a swift resolution to the bruising U.S.-China trade dispute waned.

Analysts at OCBC Bank said stocks were taking a breather, as "investors contemplate and digest U.S. Trade Representative's sobering remarks on a China trade deal."

Mainland China shares  closed lower on Thursday, but clocked their best month since April 2015. The yuan held steady

Activity at Chinese factories in February shrank to a three-year low, data showed, while export orders fell to the lowest level since the global financial crisis, underscoring concerns over a slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

"Unless the trade war truly turns into an extended truce, the weakening trend may not end quickly," said Iris Pang, a Greater China economist at ING.

South Korea's won weakened half a percent and was on course to end lower for the first time in four days, while local stocks closed down 1.8 percent to log their worst session in four months.

On Thursday, a summit between the United States and North Korea aimed at denuclearising the Korean peninsula ended early, with U.S. President Donald Trump walking away as the respective leaders failed to reach a deal on winding back sanctions.

Trump said it was a friendly parting at the end of the summit, which seemed to have started on a positive note. The White House said both sides look forward to future meetings.

"No deal is a surprise, it would be for most experts, especially as they were both all smiley last evening," said Lim Soo-ho, senior research fellow at South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy

Turkey's foreign trade deficit narrowed 72.5 percent year-on-year in January as imports dwindled.

The lira was 0.2 percent softer, while stocks  bucked the trend to rise 0.3 percent.

India's rupee and stocks  rose cautiously after two days of declines that were spurred by rising tensions with neighbouring Pakistan.

Investors will also be watching economic growth figures for the quarter ended December. Economists polled by Reuters expect growth during the period to have slipped to 6.9 percent annually, ahead of general elections in May.