CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks fell in cautious trade on Friday as a cautious mood prevailed ahead of key Trump-Xi meeting at the G20 summit that began in Osaka, Japan today.
U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi are not expected to come out of the meeting with a finalized trade deal, but investors are hoping for a temporary truce on tariffs.
Chinese stocks fell after Trump's top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, on Thursday said that there are no preconditions set for the Trump-Xi meeting and the White House may move forward with additional tariffs, if the talks do not end in progress.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index dropped 17.91 points or 0.60 percent to 2,978.88 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 0.28 percent at 28,542.62.
Japanese shares ended lower, dragged down by cyclicals as investors digested a raft of mixed data and kept an eagle eye on the G20 summit.
The Nikkei average slipped 62.25 points or 0.29 percent to 21,275.92 ahead of the closely watched 'tankan' survey, due on Monday. The broader Topix index closed 0.14 percent lower at 1,551.14.
Exporters fell, with Daikin Industries tumbling 2.4 percent while Canon and Nissan Motors dropped around 0.8 percent. Tech shares surged, with Advantest climbing 3.3 percent.
Industrial output in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent month-on-month in May, the government said in a preliminary reading. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.7 percent.
Overall inflation in the Tokyo region rose an annual 1.1 percent in June, unchanged from the May reading, although it exceeded forecasts for 1.0 percent.
The jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent in May, - in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
Australian markets fell notably as miners lost ground after strong gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 47.50 points or 0.71 percent at 6,618.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 0.65 percent at 6,699.20.
Miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group all fell around 2 percent while the big four banks ended on a mixed note. Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Origin Energy and Oil Search lost around 2 percent.
Australia's private sector credit growth remained steady in May, figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia showed today. Private sector credit grew a 0.2 percent month-on-month in May, same as seen in April and in line with economists' forecasts.
Seoul stocks ended lower ahead of key U.S.-China trade talks. The Kospi average slid 3.70 points or 0.17 percent to 2, 130.62. Tech heavyweights turned in a mixed performance, with Samsung Electronics rising 1.1 percent while SK Hynix declined 1 percent.
Industrial production in South Korea declined a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent from the previous month in May, Statistics Korea said - following the 1.9 percent jump in April. On a yearly basis, industrial output eased 0.2 percent after gaining 0.2 percent in the previous month.
New Zealand shares hit a record high, with the benchmark NZX-50 index closing up 69.88 points or 0.67 percent at 10,501.10.
New Zealand consumer confidence strengthened in June after falling a month ago, survey data from ANZ-Roy Morgan showed. The consumer confidence index rose to 122.6 in June from 119.3 in May.
U.S. stocks ended mostly higher overnight, although the Dow edged down marginally amid a steep drop by shares of Boeing. The S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index added 0.7 percent.
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