The view of Nanjing Road East Pedestrian Mall, the main shopping street in Shanghai.
Bruce Yuanyue Bi | The Image Bank | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday as investors awaited China’s April trade data amid worries of a significant slowdown in exports growth due to U.S tariffs.
Economists polled by Reuters estimate outbound shipments to rise by 1.9% year on year, declining from the 12.4% jump in March.
Uncertainty on Washington and Beijing reaching a deal in their scheduled trade talks in Switzerland is also dampening optimism.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.17% at the open and the Topix gained 1.06%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% and the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.59%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded flat.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded flat, while mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.19%.
Overnight, Wall Street gained following U.S. President Donald Trump announced the broad outline of a trade deal with the United Kingdom — the first since the U.S. paused sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs in April.
U.S. stock futures hovered near the flatline as investors hope that the U.S.- United Kingdom trade deal framework signals more progress to come.
Specific details of the agreement remained unclear, and no official documents were signed during the Oval Office announcement.
“The final details are being written up,” Trump said. “In the coming weeks we’ll have it all very conclusive.”
Meanwhile, the three major averages closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 254.48 points, or 0.62%, to settle at 41,368.45. The S&P 500 rose 0.58% and closed at 5,663.94. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.07% to end at 17,928.14.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.