Shares in Asia were mixed on Thursday following a third consecutive day of losses on Wall Street as investors sought developments on the state of U.S.-China trade negotiations.
Meanwhile, U.S. tensions with China reached new heights as Chinese tech giant Huawei filed a lawsuit against the U.S. on Thursday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 retreated 140.8 points, or 0.7%, to 21,456.01, as shares of index heavyweight Fanuc dropped 2.8%, while the Topix declined 0.8%.
The Japanese yen traded at 111.73 against the U.S. dollar after seeing lows around 111.9 in the previous session.
Renesas Electronics plunged 14.6% after reports that the company plans to partially stop chip production for up to two months in anticipation of a further slowdown in Chinese demand. Following the report, Renesas said it was planning to halt production at six plants in Japan for up to two months.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng plummeted 258.15 points, or 0.9%, to 28,779.45
Australian stocks made headway as almost all the sectors advanced. The heavily weighted financial sub-index added 0.2% as shares of the country's so-called Big Four banks were mixed: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group declined 0.1% and Commonwealth Bank of Australia was fractionally lower, while Westpac gained 0.3% and National Australia Bank rose 0.8%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7044 U.S. after declining from the $0.709 handle on Wednesday.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 slid 39.24 points, or 1%, to 3,808.85
Meanwhile, tensions between both countries escalated, with Huawei suing the U.S. earlier on Thursday, claiming that the law which bans it from selling equipment to government agencies is unconstitutional.
One analyst told the media U.S. President Donald Trump could make a deal with China, if the latter agrees to make more purchases from the
U.S.
Officials from Washington and Beijing have been engaging in negotiations in an attempt to strike a deal on trade following a tariff fight that began in 2018.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index dropped 9.81 points, or 0.5%, to 2,165.79
In Taiwan, the Taiex staggered 45.47 points, or 0.4%, to 10,311.68
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index regained 6.64 points, or 0.2%, to 3,229.48
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 22.36 points, or 0.2%, to 9,437.36
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 18.27 points, or 0.3%, to 6,263.89
