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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
NIK, +0.05%
inched up 0.1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI, -0.61%
retreated 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, +0.31%
rose 0.3% and the Shenzhen Composite
399106, +0.61%
gained 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi
180721, -0.32%
declined 0.2%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan
Y9999, -0.15%
, Singapore
STI, -0.95%
, Malaysia
FBMKLCI, -0.10%
and Indonesia
JAKIDX, -0.06%
were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
XJO, -0.14%
dipped 0.2%.
Among individual stocks, SoftBank
9984, +2.63%
gained in Tokyo trading, as did Toyota
7203, +1.67%
, while retailers Fast Retailing
9983, -1.37%
and Rakuten
4755, -4.50%
fell. In Hong Kong, Geely Automobile
175, +2.49%
rose while New World Development
17, -1.71%
and Tencent
700, -1.44%
declined. SK Hynix
000660, -1.67%
fell in South Korea while Apple component maker Largan Precision
3008, +1.61%
advanced in Taiwan. Beach Energy
BPT, +1.48%
and Woodside Petroleum
WPL, +2.12%
gained in Australia.
If the deal pans out, “it will be an emphatic upside surprise for the global economy,” said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report.
However, “we cannot rule out a gap” between the U.S. and Chinese positions, Varathan warned. And he said the Federal Reserve might turn “less dovish” if the deal “takes off with more promise than anticipated” and tariffs fall, easing pressure on U.S. economic growth.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index
SPX, +0.27%
gained 0.3% to a record 3,085.18. It was up 0.7% at one point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +0.66%
climbed 0.7% to a record 27,674.80. The Nasdaq composite
COMP, +0.28%
finished just shy of its all-time high after rising 0.3% to 8,434.52.
Encouraging reports on the U.S. economy and corporate profits have helped drive stocks back to record heights. The job market is strong, and the Fed has cut interest rates three times.
That leaves the U.S.-Chinese trade war as the wild card for the global economy.
Benchmark U.S. crude
CLZ19, -0.47%
fell 20 cents to $56.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 80 cents on Thursday to close at $57.15. Brent crude
BRNF20, -0.32%
, used to price international oils, declined 10 cents to $62.19 per barrel in London. It advanced 55 cents the previous session to $62.29.
The dollar
USDJPY, -0.03%
declined to 109.24 yen from Thursday’s 109.28 yen.
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