Investing.com – Asian equities were mixed on Thursday. The U.S. retail sales figures that came weaker than expected and political concerns both weighed on regional equities earlier in the day, as U.S. president Donald Trump reportedly planned to impose fresh tariffs on China, intensifying concerns of a global trade war.
Larry Kudlow, a free trade advocate, is set to replace Gary Cohn as White House economic adviser. Cohn resigned last week after losing his fight against tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Government bonds, on the other hand, attracted safe-haven demand. The United States 10-Year plunged to 2.806% amid rising diplomatic tension between the UK and Russia, weak U.S. retail sales data and concerns over the country’s political issues.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.2% higher at the close, up more than 1% on the week. The yen gained as traders adopted a more risk-off approach. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s comment received moderate attention as he said the central bank’s easing policy might have had a “significant impact” on financial institutions’ profits.
"I don't see a serious problem emerging in financial intermediation now. But we will closely watch how our policy affects bank profits, financial intermediation and the stability of Japan's banking system," said Kuroda.
Meanwhile, the country’s industrial production data are due on Friday.
In China, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both traded 0.5% lower. Reports that China imposed a logistics company with a $870 million fine for manipulating the stock market in 2017 received some attention as it was the biggest ever punishment for such an infringement. Sunac China Holdings Ltd (HK:1918)’ chairman Sun Hongbin resigned after just eight months in office.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also fell 0.1%. Air China Ltd (HK:0753) made headlines after reports said the company was in talks to buy HNA’s Capital Airline, a move that would eliminate competition from the only airline that shares Beijing with Air China as a home base. Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (HK:0293)’s stocks jumped 8.8% after posting better-than-expected earnings.
Elsewhere, South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.4%. Bank of Korea chief Lee Ju-yeol said on Thursday there would be no automatic acceleration of policy tightening.
"As was the case until now, the Monetary Policy Board will comprehensively consider the economic conditions, inflation trends and financial market situation to decide the benchmark interest rate," said Lee.
The central bank is due to review monetary policy on April 12.
Meanwhile, the country is reportedly proposing a supplementary budget and provide subsidies to combat high youth unemployment, which the government saw reaching a “dangerous level”.
Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) made headlines after a spokesman said the company plans to build a new memory chip production line in China in March.