Mainland and Hong Kong shares were largely flat in choppy trading on Tuesday as investors grappled with uncertainty over the future of Sino-US relations.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down eight points, or 0.03 percent, at 26,438 while the tech index added 0.6 percent.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.04 percent to 3,861 while the Shenzhen Component Index was slightly better, rising 0.45 percent to 13,063.

The combined turnover of these two indexes stood at 2.34 trillion yuan, expanding from 2.28 trillion yuan on Monday.

Stocks related to the robot and logistics industries led gains while shares in pork and non-ferrous metals saw big declines.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.68 percent to close at 3,087.

Sentiment was cautious as investors weighed uncertainties around US-China trade talks. Officials from both countries said on Monday that they have reached a framework deal on TikTok pending confirmation in a Friday call between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

That follows China's accusation that Nvidia violated the country's anti-monopoly law on Monday.

"Stock indexes are likely to remain range-bound in the short term" as markets focus on Sino-US trade talks and the Federal Reserve's meeting later this week, Nanhua Futures analysts said in a note to clients.

However, downside risks should be limited, they added, citing strong global market performance boosting risk appetite and continued loose liquidity conditions.

"Sino-US talks reduce near-term geopolitical risk but do not address structural growth challenges," Gary Tan, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, said.

Policy and liquidity should continue to provide near-term support to the market, but structural challenges persist, and the firm maintains its underweight position on China, he added. (Reuters/Xinhua)