06:59 AM EDT, 06/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets churned Tuesday following media reports that US President Donald Trump will speak, possibly this week, with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in a bid to iron out recent snags in trade talks between the two nations.

Hong Kong and Shanghai gained ground, while Tokyo finished marginally in the red. Other regional exchanges were mixed, while trading floors in Bangkok and Taiwan were closed on holiday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on overnight Wall Street cues but trailed off in the afternoon, finishing down 0.1% as investors weighed global trade tensions.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 23.86 to 37,446.86, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 122 to 98.

Leading the upside was chip-designer Socionext, up 7.5%, while Suzuki Motor declined 4.5%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and gained ground, on media reports of possible Beijing-Washington trade talks.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 354.52 to 23,512.49, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 70 to 11. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.1%, as did the Mainland Properties Index.

Leading the upside was Li Auto, gaining 5.8%, while online services outfit Kuaishou Technology declined 2.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,361.98.

In economic news, the Caixin/S&P Global headline seasonally adjusted manufacturing PMI registered at 48.3 in May, down from 50.4 in April, and falling below the 50-marker that separates growth from contraction, reported S&P Global.

On the other regional exchanges, the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and India's Sensex was off 0.7%.