Stocks in Asia gained Friday morning despite fresh overnight uncertainties about U.S.-China trade negotiations.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose about 0.8 percent in early trade while the Topix index gained nearly 0.7 percent. Shares of conglomerate Softbank Group rose almost 1 percent.
Before market open, official data showed core consumer prices in Tokyo rose 1.1 percent on-year in January, beating an estimated 0.9 percent increase predicted in a Reuters poll. The inflation measure accounts for oil products but does not include fresh food prices.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.42 percent as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics and chipmaker SK Hynix extended their gains from Thursday.
In Australia, the ASX 200 rose about 0.38 percent, with most sectors seeing gains.
The heavily-weighted financial subindex Down Under added about 0.4 percent as shares of the country’s so-called Big Four Banks gained. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was up 0.58 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.19 percent, Westpac advanced 0.64 percent and National Australia Bank added 0.57 percent.
The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to Beijing’s trade fight with Washington, are set to open at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday that China and the U.S. were not close to striking a trade deal. He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the U.S. is “miles and miles” from a trade deal with China, adding the two countries have “lots and lots of issues.”
Ross’ comments come as China and the U.S. are racing to strike a trade deal by early-March. If they don’t, additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will come into effect. The two economic powerhouses have been engaged in an ongoing trade fight since last year.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is set for a scheduled visit to the U.S. next week for high level talks.
In overnight market action on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 22.38 points to close at 24,553.24 while the S&P 500 advanced around 0.14 percent to finish its trading day at 2,642.33. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.68 percent to close at 7,073.46.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.601 after seeing lows below 96.2 yesterday.
The Japanese yen, widely seen as a safe-haven currency, traded at 109.67 against the dollar after touching highs below 109.5 in the previous session. The Australian dollar was at $0.7091 after seeing highs above $0.715 yesterday.
The British pound saw strong gains in the morning of Asian trade, gaining 0.36 percent to $1.3111.
— Reuters contributed to this report.
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