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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, -0.38% fell 0.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.38% rose 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.73% gained 0.7% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +0.96% advanced 0.9% after a private gauge found Chinese factory activity expanded in October for the third straight month. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.45% rose 0.4% while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, +0.04% , Singapore STI, -0.03% , Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.43% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.23% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.03% was up 0.1%.
Among individual stocks, Nintendo 7974, +5.93% surged in Tokyo trading after the videogame company reported strong quarterly sales of its Switch Lite handheld console. Rakuten 4755, -0.96% and oil producer Inpex 1605, -2.63% fell. In Hong Kong, Sunny 2382, +2.37% property developer Country Garden 2007, +1.65% and Ping An Insurance 2318, +1.16% gained. Chip maker SK Hynix 000660, +1.10% advanced in South Korea while Foxconn 2354, +3.07% jumped in Taiwan. Beach Energy BPT, +1.75% gained in Australia while ANZ Banking ANZ, -1.76% fell.
