Investing.com – Asian stocks were mixed in morning trade on Friday as the U.S. is set to release an updated list of Chinese tariff targets.
While a date of when the duties would be implemented has not been set, the White House said it would happen “shortly” after the release of the list.
China had indicated that the imposition of tariffs would halt broader bilateral trade talks.
The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component opened 0.3% and 0.8% lower by 9:35PM ET (01:35 GMT), while the Hang Seng Index was also down 0.2%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo told reporters on Thursday that tough sanction would remain on North Korea until it completes denuclearisation.
"President Trump has been incredibly clear about the sequencing of denuclearisation and relief from the sanctions," said Pompeo.
"We are going to get complete denuclearisation; only then will there be relief from the sanctions," he added.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.4% in morning trade. The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its short-term interest rate target unchanged later on Friday, but the markets would also be watching what central bank governor Kuroda would say on U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on auto imports.
Kuroda is expected to brief media on the central bank's policy decision at 2:30AM ET (06:30 GMT).
Elsewhere, the European Central Bank announced it would halt bond purchases and would phase out the economic stimulus by the end of the year. The central bank also said it would keep its interest rates unchanged at least through the summer of 2019.
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.2%.