Asia opens mostly lower

Asian stock indices opened the fourth session of the week mixed with China, Australia, New Zealand lower, while Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea gained ground as markets price in Covid 19 vaccine news.

From New Zealand, the trade deficit fell to 501 million dollars from 1.025 billion in September.

New Zealand's exports rose to 4.78 billion from 4.01 billion, while imports rose to 5.29 billion from 5.03 billion. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent the his first official congratulations to US President Elect Joe Biden for his elections win and expressed hopes to work with the new president on growing bilateral relations.

Japan's TOPEX rose 0.45%, while Nikkei 225 rose 0.66% to 26,470. 

China's CSI 300 fell 0.37% to 4,892, while Shanghai slipped 0.13%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.13% to 26,704, while South Korea's KOSPI climbed 0.14% to 2,605. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 fell 0.56%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.46% to 6,652.