Asian Shares Mixed On Doubts Over Peace Talks

Asian stocks traded mixed on Friday as doubts emerged over Moscow-Kyiv peace talks and the United States warned China over helping Russia with military equipment.

U.S. President Biden will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping later today, the White House said as Russia’s relentless assault continued.

Russian President Vladimir Putin may threaten to use nuclear weapons if the conflict drags on, according to a new assessment by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to end Russia’s Most Favored Nation status, leading the way to sharply higher tariffs on Russian goods.

Ratings agency S&P Global cut Russia’s credit rating deeper into junk territory, saying its debt is “highly vulnerable to nonpayment.”

China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 0.2 percent as investors await further signals from policymakers to stabilize financial markets. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down as much as 2.4 percent amidst fears of a fourth Covid-19 wave.

Japanese shares were little changed following mixed signals on peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine. The Bank of Japan kept its stimulus on hold today, citing increasing concerns over the economy.

Japan’s core consumer prices in February rose an annual 0.6 percent as energy costs surged at the fastest pace in 41 years due to higher oil prices, government data showed earlier today. The national CPI grew 0.9 percent year-on-year.

South Kora’s Kospi average was down 0.1 percent after the country saw a new record with 621,328 Covid cases and 429 deaths.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose nearly half a percent, led by gains in the energy sector as oil extended gains after the biggest daily surge in 16 months. New Zealand’s NX-50 index was up over 1 percent.

U.S. stocks ended firmly in positive territory overnight as Russia completed a closely-watched bond payment and the latest jobless claims, industrial production and housing starts data painted a positive picture of the economy.

The Dow and the S&P 500 climbed around 1.2 percent each while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.3 percent.

European stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday as investors reacted to the Fed and BoE interest-rate decisions.

The pan European Stoxx 600 rose half a percent. The German DAX dropped 0.4 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 1.3 percent.