Asian stocks open mostly higher as the week wraps up

The major Asian stocks indices opened mixed but mostly higher today, as the Chinese stocks were mixed, while the Japanese, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the South Korean Kospi index in addition to the Australian and New Zealand stocks rose, amid the market pricing the odds for the US and China to secure a trade agreement to end their ongoing trade war.

Gao Feng, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce stated Thursday that China and the US are holding in-depth discussions on a "phase one" trade agreement, and cancelling tariffs is a key to reaching a deal, and said "the trade war began with additional tariffs and should end with the cancellation of additional tariffs," adding "this is an important condition for both sides to reach a deal."

On the other side, the White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow also stated yesterday that Washington and Beijing are approaching a final agreement. It's noteworthy that recently reports touched the delay of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign the interim trade agreement from later this month to next month, as the exact date and location of the two presidents' meeting isn't revealed yet.

As for trading, the Japanese stocks rose today, with the Topix rising by 0.80% or 13.43 points to 1,697.83 points, and Nikkei 225 rose by 0.71% or 164.16 points to 23,305.71.

While the Chinese stocks were mixed, as the CSI 300 index fell by 0.03% or 1.06 points to 3,904.80, and the Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.02% or 0.58 points to 2,910.45.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.30% or 79.77 points to 26,403.46, and the South Korean Kospi index rose by 0.90% or 19.19 to 2,158.42.

To New Zealand's NZX 50, which rose by 0.01% or 0.92 points to 10,900.17, and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.73% or 49.45 points to 6,784.50.