Asian markets cautiously rise amid fresh trade-deal doubts – MarketWatch, Marketwatch.com

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Asian markets mostly gained in cautious trading Friday amid fresh doubts about the likelihood of a US-China trade deal.

Bloomberg News reportedThursday that Chinese officials were expressing doubts about the chances of a comprehensive trade deal even if a “phase one” partial deal is signed. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the U.S. and China werelooking for a new siteto sign the “phase one” deal in November, since the upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in Chile was canceled.

US stocks closed lowerThursday on the trade-deal concerns, more evidence of a slowdown in manufacturing and mixed corporate earnings.

Japan’s Nikkei                                                                                                                                                                                                                      NIK,– 0. (%) ***********                                                                                                                                                          fell 0.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index                                                                                                                                                                                                                      HSI, 0. (%)                                                                                                                                                          rose 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite                                                                                                                                                                                                                      SHCOMP, 0. 99%                                                                                                                                                          gained 0.7% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite                                                                                                                                                                                                                      399106, 1. (%) ***********                                                                                                                                                          advanced 0.9% after a private gauge foundChinese factory activity expanded in Octoberfor the third straight month. South Korea’s Kospi                                                                                                                                                                                                                      180721, 0. 80%                                                                                                                                                          rose 0.4% while benchmark indexes in Taiwan                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Y 9999, 0. 36%                                                                                                                                                          , Singapore                                                                                                                                                                                                                      (STI,– 0. 01%                                                                                                                                                          , Malaysia                                                                                                                                                                                                                      FBMKLCI,– 0. 29%                                                                                                                                                          and Indonesia                                                                                                                                                                                                                      JAKIDX,– 0. 34%                                                                                                                                                          were mixed. Australia’s S & P / ASX 200                                                                                                                                                                                                                      XJO, 0. (%) ***********                                                                                                                                                          was up 0.1%.

Among individual stocks, Nintendo                                                                                                                                                                                                                      7974, 7. 46%                                                                                                                                                          surged in Tokyo trading after the videogame companyreported strong quarterly salesof its Switch Lite handheld console. Rakuten                                                                                                                                                                                                                      4755,– 1. 35%                                                                                                                                                          and oil producer Inpex                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1605,– 2. 52%                                                                                                                                                          fell. In Hong Kong, Sunny                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2382, 2. 05%                                                                                                                                                          property developer Country Garden                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2007, 2. 01%                                                                                                                                                          and Ping An Insurance                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2318, 1. 10%                                                                                                                                                          gained. Chip maker SK Hynix                                                                                                                                                                                                                      000660,1. 34%                                                                                                                                                          advanced in South Korea while Foxconn                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2354, 3. 22%                                                                                                                                                          jumped in Taiwan. Beach Energy                                                                                                                                                                                                                      (BPT, 2. 62%                                                                                                                                                          gained in Australia while ANZ Banking                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ANZ,– 2. 06%                                                                                                                                                          fell.