Japan stocks led gains in Asia on Friday as investors welcomed a truce between Washington and Beijing, following a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The Nikkei 225 Index powered ahead 1,085.73 points, or 2.1%, to 52,411.34, a new all-time record.
They reached a trade deal of sorts during a high-stakes meeting in South Korea on Thursday, de-escalating a dispute over rare earth elements that had threatened to push the world’s two largest economies into a full-blown trade war.
Shares of Panasonic Holdings fell over 8% lowering its forecast for full-year operating profit by 13.5% on Thursday, blaming weaker earnings from its key energy unit, which supplies batteries to Tesla and other automakers.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng faltered 376.04 points, or 1.4%, to 26,282.69.
South Korean tech shares rallied after U.S. chipmaker Nvidia announced it was collaborating with the South Korean government to expand the nation’s AI infrastructure, utilizing over a quarter-million Nvidia GPUs.
Internet services giant Naver, which is also part of the initiative through its subsidiary Naver Cloud, will also expand its AI capacity with over 60,000 Nvidia GPUs. Naver stock was up about 5%.
Hyundai gained 9.6% after Nvidia announced it was deepening its partnership with the automaker in autonomous vehicles, smart factories, and robotics, with a new AI factory powered by its latest Blackwell AI processors.
The two companies plan to deploy 50,000 of Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs and invest about $3 billion in AI infrastructure in South Korea.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai dropped 69.24 points, or 1.5%, to 4,640.67
China’s manufacturing activity in October contracted more than expected, shrinking to its lowest since May, an official survey showed on Friday, as trade tensions with Washington reignited during the month.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 49, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, missing economists’ expectations for 49.6 in a Reuters poll. A reading above the 50 benchmark indicates growth, while one below that suggests contraction.
The country’s manufacturing activity has remained in contraction since April, when U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign pressured Chinese factories and global demand.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi gained 20.61 points, or 0.5%, to 4,107.50
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index backslid 8.82 points, or 0.2%, to 4,428.62
In Taiwan, the Taiex toppled 54.18 points, or 0.2%, to 28,233.35.
In Australia, the ASX 200 skidded 3.65 points, or 0.04%, to 8,881.86.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 89.03 points, or 0.7%, to 13,548.32.
