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Asian markets advanced in early trading Friday after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said a U.S.-China trade deal was close.
Speaking Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations, Kudlow said there has been “very good progress,” and that an agreement was near, but while President Donald Trump “likes what he sees, he’s not ready to make a commitment.”
Earlier in the day, Chinese officials said rolling back tariffs was crucial to an agreement, while U.S. officials said China had not yet agreed to enough concessions to grant tariff relief.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +0.71% rose 0.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.32% rose 0.4% as pro-democracy protests continued to grip the city. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.03% was about flat while the Shenzhen Composite 399106, -0.19% retreated 0.2%. South Korea’s Kospi 180721, +1.13% gained 0.9%, while benchmark indexes in Taiwan Y9999, +0.71% , Singapore STI, +0.10% , Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.01% and Indonesia JAKIDX, +0.53% were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.77% rose 0.8%.
Among individual stocks, Rakuten 4755, +0.75% gained in Tokyo trading, while oil producer Inpex 1605, -0.77% and Yahoo Japan parent Z Holdings 4689, -4.90% , which surged Thursday, fell. In Hong Kong, AAC 2018, +3.18% , AIA Group 1299, +1.77% and New World Development 17, +1.15% rose. Samsung 005930, +1.33% and SK Hynix 000660, +2.04% advanced in South Korea while BHP BHP, +1.66% and Commonwealth Bank CBA, +0.97% gained in Australia.
