Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday as investors monitored the second day of high-level talks between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
By 11:30 am AEST (1:30 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% higher, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 fell 1.4% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1%.
In economic data, Japan’s producer price index (PPI) rose 2.3% in April from the previous month, well above expectations of 0.7%, according to data released by the Bank of Japan on Friday.
On an annual basis, the PPI increased 4.9%, compared with a 2.9% rise in March.
In South Korea, import prices fell sharply in April as crude oil prices eased, central bank data showed on Friday. The import price index dropped 2.3% month-on-month after surging 18% in March amid heightened Middle East tensions, according to the Bank of Korea.
Export prices rose 7.1% in April compared with the previous month, slowing from a 17% increase in March.
On Wall Street, U.S. benchmarks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.8%, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended at record highs, gaining 0.8% and 0.9% respectively.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude rose 0.1% to settle at US$105.72 per barrel, while spot gold declined 0.8% to US$4,650.02 per ounce.
In China, the SSE Composite Index fell 1.5% to 4,177.9 and the CSI 300 dropped 1.7% to 4,914.6.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished flat at 26,389.0, while India’s BSE Sensex advanced 1.1% to 75,398.7.
European markets closed higher on Thursday, with the UK’s FTSE 100 rising 0.5% to 10,372.9, Germany’s DAX gaining 1.3% to 24,456.3, and France’s CAC 40 adding 0.9% to 8,082.3.
