Asia markets ended mixed after volatile trading

Asian markets closed mixed in volatile trade on Friday as sentiment remained jittery over President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Markets in Hong Kong and China ended higher after state-owned funds and firms pledged support earlier this week, pointing to potential state-backed buying. Investors are also expecting stimulus from Beijing amid its escalating
trade war
with Washington.

Here is where major indexes stood at the close of the trading day:

Despite Trump’s tariffs suspension, markets are not out of the woods as uncertainty remains extremely elevated and keeping investors on edge ahead of the weekend.

“There isn’t even a clean ‘
Trump trade,
‘ the original iteration of which (as many have pointed out) has aged very badly,” wrote Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho’s macro research head for Asia, excluding Japan.

Investors are particularly concerned about the intensifying trade war between the US and China — which did not get a reprieve from Trump. The US’s tariff rate against Chinese imports is now 145%.

Louis Navellier, the founder and chief investment officer of investment manager Navellier & Associates, said the selloff wasn’t surprising following the historic spike on Trump’s tariff pause.

“It was a postponement, not a cancellation,” Navellier wrote in a Thursday note. “The tariff story is far from over.”

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