Asian equity markets ended mixed on Friday as Chinese trade data proved to be a mixed bag and investors awaited earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co later in the day for direction. Geopolitical tensions eased somewhat after US President Donald Trump urged caution on an imminent strike against Syria and also tweeted that the US would rejoin the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact if the deal were substantially better than the one offered to former President Barack Obama. China's exports declined unexpectedly in March, while imports grew more-than-expected, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. In dollar terms, exports fell 2.7 percent year-over-year in March, confounding economists' forecast for a notable increase of 11.8 percent. Imports surged 14.4 percent from a year ago, faster than the expected spike of 12 percent. The trade deficit came in at $4.98 billion in March, in contrast to the expected surplus of $27.5 billion. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended higher to post third week of gains as higher US bond yields helped lift financials and exporters also surged on the back of a firmer dollar following Trump's comments on Syria and rejoining TPP.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,159.05 | -21.11 | -0.66 |
Hang Seng | 30,808.38 | -22.90 | -0.07 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,270.33 | -40.47 | -0.64 |
KLSE Composite | 1,868.47 | -5.15 | -0.27 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,778.74 | 118.46 | 0.55 |
Straits Times | 3,501.30 | 32.69 | 0.94 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,455.07 | 12.36 | 0.51 |
Taiwan Weighted | 10,965.39 | 10.10 | 0.09 |
