Asian markets ended mixed on Friday after US President Donald Trump touted prospects for an ‘epic’ trade deal with China, but failed to announce a date and place for a Trump/Xi summit. Chinese state media Xinhua reported quoting Vice Premier Liu He that a new consensus has been reached between the two sides on the text of a trade agreement. Investors also looked ahead to the all-important US jobs report due later in the day, with traders looking for stabilization in payrolls, following the weakest reading since 2017. Employment is expected to jump by 180,000 jobs in March after inching up by just 20,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.8 percent. Japanese markets hit a one-month high, with shares of companies relying on Chinese demand leading the surge on hopes for a US-China trade deal. Investors shrugged off data showing that Japan's household spending rose less than expected in February and real wages fell unexpectedly. Meanwhile, the markets in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong were closed for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | - | - | - |
Hang Seng | - | - | - |
Jakarta Composite | 6,474.02 | -20.61 | -0.32 |
KLSE Composite | 1,641.81 | -3.26 | -0.20 |
Nikkei 225 | 21,807.50 | 82.55 | 0.38 |
Straits Times | 3,322.64 | 6.43 | 0.19 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,209.61 | 3.08 | 0.14 |
Taiwan Weighted | - | - | - |
