Asian markets were mixed in early trading Friday as investors sought clarity after conflicting messages about the state of U.S.-China trade talks.
Chinese officials announced Thursday that a mutual rollback of tariffs had been agreed upon as part of a “phase one” trade deal, but while one U.S. official confirmed that, two others disputed it, according to the Wall Street Journal. Reuters reported that the subject of rolling back tariffs faced “fierce internal opposition” within the White House.
China got encouraging economic news as exports fell less than expected in October, down just 0.9% from the prior year compared to September’s 3.2% decline. Experts had expected a 3.1% fall. Chinese imports also fell less than expected.
Japan’s Nikkei
inched up 0.1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
retreated 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite
rose 0.3% and the Shenzhen Composite
gained 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi
declined 0.2%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan
, Singapore
, Malaysia
and Indonesia
were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
dipped 0.2%.
Among individual stocks, SoftBank
gained in Tokyo trading, as did Toyota
, while retailers Fast Retailing
and Rakuten
fell. In Hong Kong, Geely Automobile
rose while New World Development
and Tencent
declined. SK Hynix
fell in South Korea while Apple component maker Largan Precision
advanced in Taiwan. Beach Energy
and Woodside Petroleum
gained in Australia.
