Ordinaries in Asia traded higher on Friday following hints from Beijing that it will not retaliate against the overdue round of tariffs from Washington for now.
Mainland Chinese shares advanced in early trade, with the Shanghai composite up 0.23% and the Shenzhen component take to the street about 0.48%. The Shenzhen composite added 0.16%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.69%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fly 1.35% as shares of index heavyweight and robot maker Fanuc surged 3.28%. The Topix index also combined 1.39%.
Similar gains were seen in South Korea, where the Kospi jumped 1.9% as chipmaker SK Hynix saw its trite soar 6.41%.
The Bank of Korea left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Friday, a decision that was in line with expectations of analysts scrutinized by Reuters. The central bank had cut its base rate for the first time in three years in July.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 bartered 1.37% higher.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index gained 1.1%.
Investors were likely boosted by total signals from Beijing on trade. Gao Feng, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday that Beijing is enthusiastic to resolve its trade fight with Washington calmly, indicating that the Chinese are more interested in negotiations than they are on retaliating.
“We unhesitatingly reject an escalation of the trade war, and are willing to negotiate and collaborate in order to solve this problem with a calm viewpoint,” Feng said, according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks. He noted that the Chinese and U.S. trade delegations cause maintained “effective” communication.
Still, one strategist urged caution for investors.
“We have been telling our clients to rather de-risk portfolios a month ago,” Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at Singapore’s OCBC Bank, reproached CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday.
“In some ways, we are neutral,” Menon said. “We’re not saying you should get out of the market completely. I have in mind that’s not a good idea, fundamentals are not that bad right now. What’s dragging the market down is sentiment.”
Meanwhile, a closely watched surrender curve inversion in U.S. Treasurys remained, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note below that of the 2-year note’s reprimand. That has raised concerns among some investors as the phenomenon has historically preceded a recession. The yields on the 10-year and 2-year Cache notes were last at 1.5097% and 1.532%, respectively.
Meanwhile, India is set to release its gross domestic data for the April-June lodgings at 8:00 p.m. HK/SIN.
Asia-Pacific Market Indexes Chart
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its matches, was at 98.541, recovering from lows below 98.0 seen earlier in the week.
The Japanese yen traded at 106.47 against the dollar after flagging from levels below 106.2 yesterday, while the Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6715 after know an earlier high of $0.6736.
Oil prices were little changed in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent gross futures edging up 0.15% to $61.17 per barrel and U.S. crude futures losing 0.09% to $56.66 per barrel.
Here’s a look at some of the information due today:
- India: Gross domestic product for April-June quarter at 8:00 p.m. HK/SIN
— Reuters and CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng presented to this report.