Investing.com – Asian equity markets were mixed on Thursday afternoon. The potential trade talks initiated by the U.S. amid escalating tensions with China are boosting optimism into the market.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invited its counterpart in China for a trade talk in Washington, amidst burgeoning trade tensions between the two countries.
China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.47% at 2:04AM ET (06:04 GMT), while the Shenzhen Component slipped 0.53%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index extended gain for 1.56%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 remained strong, climbing 0.99%, while South Korea’s KOSPI also hiked 0.28%.
Japan saw an 11% rise in core machinery orders for July, a rebound from a decline in June. Economists had reservations about the growth.
“This is a pretty good number, but I think it still doesn’t ease out worries about the export outlook for Japan,” Izumi Devalier, head of Japan economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC), told CNBC.
“It looks like there could be some delays in import demand from China.”
Down under, Australia’s stock market remained in the red, taking a 0.75% dip, despite a better-than-expected employment data.
For the month of August, the number of jobs in Australia exceeded expectations of Reuters’ forecast of 15,000 to 44,000.
“The strong [labor] market is clearly a source of strength for household incomes and if sustained points to stronger wages growth…we remain the view that the [Reserve Bank of Australia] will leave interest rates on hold out to 2020 at least,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital.
The Bank of England, the European Central Bank and Turkey are due to reach policy decisions on Thursday. China and the U.S. are set to release data on industrial production and retail sales on Friday.