Asia report: Markets mixed after tough week for trade tensions

Markets in Asia finished on a mixed note on Friday, as investor concerns about trade relations between China and the US continued to linger.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.78% at 22,516.83, as the yen weakened 0.15% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 110.15.

Declines were broad in Tokyo, with carmakers among the leading losers on the Topix, falling 1.43% as a sector.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite added 0.49% to 2,889.95, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite gained 1.21% to 1,597.39.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.83% at 2,357.22, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong managed gains of 0.15% to 29,338.70.

Samsung Securities was down 2.94% after the financial regulator in Seoul suggested the suspension of some of the firm’s operations for six months, as a consequence of a “fat finger” error earlier in the year.

Sentiment was muted in the region, after stocks on Wall Street closed in the red overnight as trade tensions continued to weigh.

The week had been marred by those tensions, with US president Donald Trump kicking things off on Monday as he requested a list of $200bn of Chinese products to be possibly subjected to an additional 10% tariff.

Beijing quickly responded, saying it would introduce more retaliatory tariffs if the US went ahead.

Oil prices were higher, with Brent crude last up 1.48% at $74.15 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate rising 1.19% to $66.33.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.11% at 6,225.20, with gains for the hefty financials subindex offset by declines for most other sectors.

Telecoms were led lower by former incumbent operator Telstra, which had a third straight day of losses as it fell 1.47%.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 eked out gains of 0.01% to close at 8,999.37, led higher by fuel producer New Zealand Refining, which was ahead 2.4%.

The company had updated the market earlier in the session, confirming that all critical maintenance and replacement work during the shutdown of its facility at Marsden Point had been completed.

It did, however, say there had been a delay in the restarting of the hydrocracker unit after two minor leaks.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.69% at AUD 1.3463 and the Kiwi advancing 0.45% to NZD 1.4497.