Asian equities rounded out the week in mixed fashion as investors gauged whether China and the US can de-escalate their trade spat before the G20 summit later this month.
Stocks slipped in Japan, but climbed in most other markets, notably China and Hong Kong.
MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index rose 0.2 percent.
Equity markets remain volatile as the slowing Chinese economy and uncertain outlook for earnings coincide with investors continuing to adjust to the effects of tightening US monetary policy.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell 29.37 points, or 0.30 percent, to 9,797.09, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) came under pressure, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 0.33 percent from last week’s 9,830.01 points.
Stocks in Hong Kong rose marginally as IT hardware companies, some of which were caught in the trade war crossfire earlier this year, outperformed the rest of the market.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.3 percent to 26,183.53 on Friday, up 2.3 percent for the week.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.3 percent on Friday, up 1.5 percent for the week.
Beijing provided earlier this week US President Donald Trump’s administration a formal document in response to Washington’s demands for trade reforms.
However, the White House played down the prospect of a quick end to the trade war on Thursday, expressing dissatisfaction at China’s offer.
The market does not expect trade tensions to worsen ahead of the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Trump at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires later this month, said Steven Leung (梁偉源), a Hong Kong-based executive director at UOB Kay Hian Holdings Ltd (大華繼顯控股).
“People are not worried about new tariffs in the near term,” he said. “Officials may talk up threats, but that’s just talk. Not much will change in reality, at least in the near term.”
Hang Seng’s hardware index jumped 2.8 percent. The index was led higher by a 6.4 percent gain in ZTE Corp (中興), which has been caught in the trade conflict.
The stock also received a boost from local media reports, citing the company, that it is to launch a 5G phone in the first half of next year.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.6 percent, while the IT sector rose 0.9 percent, the financial sector ended 0.4 percent higher and the property sector rose 0.2 percent.
Japan’s TOPIX slid 0.3 percent and Nikkei closed down 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.1 percent.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and CNA
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