CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Friday as news that China and the U.S. have agreed to hold new trade talks in the coming days helped offset gloom over downbeat U.S. jobless claims data released overnight.
Encouraging news on the coronavirus vaccine front also underpinned sentiment, with Pfizer and BioNTech SE saying they are on track to seek regulatory review for their coronavirus vaccine candidate as early as October 2020.
Chinese stocks closed higher ahead of the implementation of reforms measures for Shenzhen's start-up board ChiNext. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index rose 16.78 points, or 0.50 percent, to 3,380.68, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended up 1.30 percent at 25,113.84.
Gains in technology stocks helped Japanese shares finish modestly higher. The Nikkei average inched up 39.68 points, or 0.17 percent, to 22,920.30, but ended the week down about 1.6 percent. The broader Topix index closed 0.30 percent higher at 1,604.06.
Nintendo shares rallied 2.6 percent after the gaming giant announced that the Switch will soon be getting an official launch in Brazil.
Nippon Paint Holdings soared 6.5 percent on news that Singapore's Wuthelam Group will buy out the Japanese company for 1.19 trillion yen.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in July, albeit at a weaker pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank showed with a manufacturing PMI score of 46.6, up from 45.2 in June.
The survey also showed that the services PMI fell to 45.0 from 45.4 in June, while the composite PMI was unchanged at 44.9.
Another report revealed that nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on year in July - in line with expectations and up from 0.1 percent in June. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food costs, came in flat on year.
Australian markets fluctuated before finishing marginally lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index edged down 8.80 points, or 0.14 percent, to 6,111.20 despite the country's second-most populous state of Victoria reporting its lowest daily rise in new coronavirus cases. The broader All Ordinaries index ended little changed with a negative bias at 6,270.70.
The big four banks fell between 0.2 percent and 0.9 percent while financial conglomerate Suncorp soared 11 percent on the release of its FY20 profit results.
Fund management company MyState lost 3.9 percent after it reported a 3 percent decrease in full-year profit and said it will not pay a final dividend to shareholders.
Energy companies Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search rose about 1 percent despite crude oil prices slipping overnight. Santos jumped as much as 3.6 percent.
Seoul stocks ended sharply higher after data showed the country's exports contracted by a smaller percentage in the first 20 days of August than in July. The benchmark Kospi climbed 30.37 points, or 1.34 percent, to 2,304.59.
Exports contracted 7 percent from a year earlier in the period, versus a drop of 13 percent in the same period in July, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports declined 12.8 percent year-on-year in the first 20 days of August.
New Zealand shares wiped all the losses from the previous session after a senior official said a decision to implement negative interest rates would be 'contingent on the health of the economy.' The benchmark NZX-50 index climbed 173.78 points, or 1.49 percent, to 11,835.94.
Skellerup Holdings, a manufacturer of industrial and agricultural rubber products, surged 6.4 percent on strong annual results. Dairy and infant formula company A2 Milk advanced 1.8 percent after saying it is in talks to buy three-quarters of the China-owned Mataura Valley Milk.
U.S. stocks rose overnight led by technology stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.1 percent to reach a fresh record closing high, while the Dow edged up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent.
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