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Asian markets largely rallied Friday as investors took a more upbeat view of the global trade situation after the White House extended an invitation to China for fresh trade talks.
An editorial in a state-run newspaper Friday warned, however, that China would not cave to pressure.
“The Trump administration should not be mistaken that China will surrender to the U.S. demands. It has enough fuel to drive its economy even if a trade war is prolonged,” the newspaper said in an editorial, according to Reuters.
Chinese stocks stood out with a small loss after a solid rebound yesterday. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -0.18% slipped 0.2%, while the Shenzhen Composite 399106, -0.78% dropped 1.8%.
In Japan, the Nikkei closed at its highest level in seven months, driven by gains in electronics stocks, as hopes grow for U.S.-China trade talks and with the yen USDJPY, -0.02% hitting a six-week low of ¥112.08. The Nikkei NIK, +1.20% closed up 1.2% to 23,094.670, with Fujifilm 4901, +4.62% jumping 4.6% and Murata Manufacturing 6981, +5.27% gaining 5.3%. Some energy stocks fell down after oil’s strong overnight pullback. The Nikkei gained 3.5% for the week, it’s best weekly gain since the week ending July 13.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.01% jumped 1% after the benchmark ‘s best day in two years Thursday. Tencent 0700, +1.91% rose a further 2% after yesterday’s 5% jump, its best since 2016. Among financials, big insurer AIA 1299, +1.25% climbing 1.8%, and big banks like HSBC 0005, +0.52% were up as well. Macau stocks extended their rebound while CNOOC 0883, -0.68% pulled back 0.7%.
Korea’s Kospi SEU, +1.40% surged 1.4%, as Samsung 005930, +4.09% climbed ove 4%. Taiwan’s Taiex Y9999, +1.31% finished up 1.3% as Apple AAPL, +2.42% iPhone suppliers Taiwan Semiconductor 2330, +2.35% and Largan Precision 3008, +7.18% rose a respective 2.4% and 7.2%.
Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, +0.60% ended its session up 0.6%, while New Zealand’s NZX-50 NZ50GR, +0.24% gained 0.2%. Benchmarks in Singapore STI, +0.95% and Indonesia JAKIDX, +1.04% logged gains of around 1% each.
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