Asian markets mostly gained in cautious trading Friday amid fresh doubts about the likelihood of a U.S.-China trade deal.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Chinese officials were expressing doubts about the chances of a comprehensive trade deal even if a “phase one” partial deal is signed. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the U.S. and China were looking for a new site to sign the “phase one” deal in November, since the upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in Chile was canceled.
U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday on the trade-deal concerns, more evidence of a slowdown in manufacturing and mixed corporate earnings.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.39% fell 0.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.59% rose 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.96% gained 0.7% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +1.27% advanced 0.9% after a private gauge found Chinese factory activity expanded in October for the third straight month. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.70% rose 0.4% while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, +0.36% , Singapore STI, +0.11% , Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.47% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.38% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.09% was up 0.1%.
Among individual stocks, Nintendo 7974, +7.07% surged in Tokyo trading after the videogame company reported strong quarterly sales of its Switch Lite handheld console. Rakuten 4755, -1.45% and oil producer Inpex 1605, -2.60% fell. In Hong Kong, Sunny 2382, +1.81% property developer Country Garden 2007, +2.75% and Ping An Insurance 2318, +1.38% gained. Chip maker SK Hynix 000660, +1.10% advanced in South Korea while Foxconn 2354, +3.22% jumped in Taiwan. Beach Energy BPT, +2.62% gained in Australia while ANZ Banking ANZ, -2.06% fell.