Stocks in Asia were mixed on Friday amid ongoing concern that trade frictions might jeopardize global economic growth
Hong Kong and South Korean shares fell, while Japan’s TOPIX edged up.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific index on Friday ended 0.3 percent lower at 155.21, up 0.6 percent for the week.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, on Friday fell 36.34 points, or 0.34 percent, to 10,524.57, but was up 1.1 percent for the week.
With heightened US-China trade tensions threatening to weaken already fragile global economic growth and geopolitical concerns ratcheting up in the Middle East, equity investors are banking on more support from central banks.
“What’s important to remember right now is that there aren’t a whole lot of upside catalysts,” Randy Frederick, vice president for trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co, told Bloomberg TV. “Markets are waiting now for what the Fed is going to say at the meeting and that’s coming next week.”
The Hong Kong stock market on Friday fell for the third straight session and pared of some its weekly gains as China reported lackluster industrial production data.
At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 0.7 percent at 27,118.53, shedding its weekly gains to 0.6 percent.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.7 percent on Friday, finishing the week up just 0.8 percent.
The Chinese A-share market recorded gains of about 2 percent this week.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.2 percent, the IT sector lost 1.4 percent, the financial sector ended 0.8 percent lower and the property sector dipped 0.3 percent.
China’s industrial output growth last month unexpectedly slowed to a more than 17-year low, official data showed after market hours on Friday, adding that the country’s investment also cooled, in the latest sign of weakening demand in the world’s second-largest economy as the US ramps up trade pressure.
US President Donald Trump this week said that he still plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) later this month, but declined to set a deadline for levying tariffs on another US$325 billion of Chinese goods.
A Chinese state newspaper reported this week that Beijing is expected to adjust money and credit supply in coming weeks.
The TOPIX on Friday index added 0.3 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.4 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2 percent.
Additional reporting by CNA
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