Japanese stocks end the day a little higher in mixed session for Asian markets
Asian investors are very much caught between two minds this session as trade talks continue to show decent signs of optimism but China's economy continue to show further signs of slowing down after the Caixin manufacturing PMI fell again to its lowest level since February 2016.
That said, the drag is mostly reflected in the Hang Seng index which is down by 0.4% currently while the mainland Chinese stocks are buoyed by optimism that trade talks are at least progressing. The Shanghai Composite trades near the highs now, up by 0.9%.
Meawhile, US equity futures are rather unchanged and isn't really helped by Amazon earnings which reported a beat and profits topped expectations - quarterly profit topped $3 billion for the first time - but then gave markets something to worry about as their sales forecast was below what analysts expected to start the new year; sparking fears of further growth slowdown in the global economy.
That is keeping USD/JPY at flat levels on the day at 108.89 currently, still trapped in a narrow range thus far.
