Asia markets mixed as investors weigh China-U.S. trade deal

Nikkei 225 rose 0.04% to 51,325.61, Topix added 0.69% to 3,300.79, Shanghai Composite declined 0.73% to 3,986.90 and Shenzhen Component shed 1.16% to 13,532.13, Kospi advanced 0.14% to end at 4,086.89, while S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.46% to 8,885.50

Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed the outcome of the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.04% to 51,325.61, with Lasertec up 21.21%, NEC Corporation adding 13.15%, and Sumitomo Electric Industries gaining 6.11%.

The Topix added 0.69% to 3,300.79 after the Bank of Japan voted 7-2 to keep its benchmark rate at 0.5%, marking the first policy meeting under new prime minister Sanae Takaichi.

Chinese stocks led losses after Trump and Xi agreed to a one-year pause in their trade dispute.

The Shanghai Composite declined 0.73% to 3,986.90 and the Shenzhen Component shed 1.16% to 13,532.13, with Guodian Nanjing Automation, Ningbo Sanxing Medical Electric and Huali Industries each down nearly 10%.

In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.14% to end at a record 4,086.89, led by Hankook Cosmetic, up 24.76%, Hanwha Systems, up 14.55%, and Iljin Electric, up 11.72%.

S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.46% to 8,885.50, dragged lower by losses in Wesfarmers, Block Inc, and JB Hi-Fi.

U.S. President Trump said he had reached a one-year agreement with Beijing covering rare earths and critical minerals and would cut fentanyl-related tariffs to 10%, but Chinese and Hong Kong equities slipped as traders questioned how durable the truce would be.

Meanwhile, U.S. central bank chair warned overnight that another rate cut in December was “not a foregone conclusion” after the bank lowered its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4%.

Stephen Innes, head of trading and market strategy at SPI Asset Management, said Asia’s traders had largely shrugged off Powell’s caution.

Asia traders have turned tone-deaf to Eccles Building musings, he quipped.

Powell can lean hawkish, hint at doubt, or hedge every phrase with ‘data dependent,’ but traders have tuned him out like static on an AM radio, he said.

He added: The Fed may want to cool sentiment, but Asia woke up and went right back to doing what it’s done all year – buying weakness, chasing momentum, and trading optimism as an asset class.