Asian Shares Mixed As Markets Watch US-China Talks

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, with the spotlight firmly on a high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donld Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Based on Xi Jinping's readout of the meeting, the two leaders agreed to develop a "constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability" led by cooperation and "measured competition."

The dollar held firm in Asian trading, tracking higher U.S. Treasury yields, as investors began to price in the prospect of Federal Reserve rate hikes this year.

Spot gold traded above $4,700 an ounce while Brent crude futures steadied near $106 a barrel after the International Energy Agency warned that the global oil market is likely to remain heavily undersupplied until October, bringing inflationary worries back into view.

China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.52 percent to 4,177.92 as investors awaited updates on China's import of Nvidia's advanced H200 chips. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished marginally higher at 26,389.04.

Japanese shares tumbled despite robust corporate results. The Nikkei average briefly reached another intraday record at 63,799 before reversing course to end 0.98 percent lower at 62,654.05.

The broader Topix index settled 1.03 percent lower at 3,879.27 as rising government bond yields and BoJ rate hike expectations weighed on rate-sensitive real estate stocks.

Seoul stocks ended at a new peak as artificial intelligence-related stocks extended their rally. The Kospi average surged 1.75 percent to 7,981.41, just shy of the landmark 8,000-point mark.

Samsung Life Insurance soared 7.8 percent after Q1FY2 net profit soared 90 percent year-over year. Samsung Electronics rallied 4.2 percent after proposing that its labor unions resume wage talks.

LG Electronics jumped 13.4 percent after announcing it supplied large LED signage to the new terminal at Frankfurt Airport in Germany.

Australian stocks edged up slightly as a rebound in banks helped offset broader weakness across economically sensitive and growth-linked stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.12 percent to 8,640.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended marginally higher at 8,884.70.

Accounting software firm Xero plummeted over 9 percent on concerns over profitability and margin pressures.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index dipped 0.29 percent to 13,025.07. Air New Zealand shares plunged 5.8 percent after the airline said it expects significantly steeper losses for the year to 30 June.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mostly higher as chip makers bounced back on AI trade optimism and the U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Wash as chair of the Federal Reserve for a four-year term.

Investors shrugged off data that showed producer prices posted their biggest increase in four years in April. Wholesale inflation jumped 1.4 percent in April and rose 6 percent year-on-year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.6 percent to reach new record closing highs while the narrower Dow slipped 0.1 percent.