Nikkei slips, while stocks in Hong Kong, mainland China inch up
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, -0.33% fell 0.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.72% rose 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.99% gained 0.7% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +1.29% advanced 0.9% after a private gauge found Chinese factory activity expanded in October for the third straight month. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +0.80% rose 0.4% while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, +0.36% , Singapore STI, -0.01% , Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.29% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -0.34% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.09% was up 0.1%.
Among individual stocks, Nintendo 7974, +7.46% surged in Tokyo trading after the videogame company reported strong quarterly sales of its Switch Lite handheld console. Rakuten 4755, -1.35% and oil producer Inpex 1605, -2.52% fell. In Hong Kong, Sunny 2382, +2.05% property developer Country Garden 2007, +2.01% and Ping An Insurance 2318, +1.10% gained. Chip maker SK Hynix 000660, +1.34% 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.