Asian Shares Mixed As Investors Await Details On Sino-US Trade Deal

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday as a new U.S.-China trade deal provided few concrete details.

Talks in London aimed at cooling tensions between the countries ended in a "deal", according to U.S. President Donald Trump. The Chinese side didn't disclose any progress, resulting in a fragile truce.

Trump's new threat that he would send letters to trading partners in the next week or two setting unilateral tariff rates and heightened tensions in the Middle East also kept investors on edge.

The dollar was under pressure ahead of U.S. producer price index data for May and another U.S. Treasury 10-year note auction due later in the day.

Gold ticked higher in Asian trade while oil prices fell about 1 percent, after having hit their highest level in over two months.

Trump said on Wednesday U.S. personnel were being moved out of the Middle East due to heightened security risks in the region.

A senior Iranian security official said the Islamic Republic is at its "highest level of military readiness" and warned any act of aggression by the United States or Israel would be met with a swift and unexpected response.

China's Shanghai Composite index finished marginally higher at 3,402.66 as the absence of specific details on the trade truce kept markets guessing.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.36 percent to 24,035.38, with tech and EV stocks tumbling on trade and Middle East concerns.

Japanese markets ended lower as a firmer yen weighed on export-related stocks. The Nikkei average ended down 0.65 percent at 38,173.09 while the broader Topix index settled 0.21 percent lower at 2,782.97. Automakers Honda, Mitsubishi Motors and Toyota fell between 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent.

Seoul stocks eked out modest gains to extend the winning streak for a seventh consecutive session, driven by big gains in the defense and energy sectors.

The Kospi average rose 0.45 percent to 2,920.03. Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, Hanwha Ocean and Doosan Enerbility surged 5-7 percent.

Australian markets reversed course to end lower after a sell-off in mining stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.31 percent to 8,565.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.27 percent lower at 8,796.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up by 0.34 percent to 12,649.10.

Overnight, U.S. stocks gave back early gains to end lower as trade uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions offset a better-than-expected inflation report.

Data showed the consumer price index increased 0.1 percent for May, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4 percent.

Core inflation has come out to be lower than expected for the fourth month in a row, raising pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates.

On the trade front, President Trump said a trade framework with China has been completed, with Beijing supplying full magnets and "any necessary rare earths" up front and the U.S. allowing Chinese students into its colleges and universities while keeping tariffs unchanged.

"WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%," Trump added. "RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT!"

Later, Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping "are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade."

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped half a percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent and the narrower Dow finished marginally lower.