06:50 AM EDT, 09/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely lost ground on Friday, as investors sold after recent record highs in Seoul, Taiwan, and Tokyo, and awaited clarity on China-US trade relations.

Hong Kong finished flat, but Shanghai and Tokyo closed in the red, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished off 0.6% as investors booked profits in a market that struck an all-time high on Thursday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 257.62 to 45,045.81, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 154 to 67.

Leading the upside was semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Lasertec, up 12.5%, while Fast Retailing declined 4.5%.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan held its key policy rate unchanged at 0.50%, but said it will increase sales of bank-held assets, especially exchange-traded funds and Japanese real estate investment trusts (J-REITS).

In other news, Japan's widely quoted consumer price index-core in August rose by 2.7% on the year, easing from a 3.1% rise in July but still logging above the Bank of Japan's 2% annual target, reported Statistics of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly and closed the same way, up marginally as investors awaited the outcome of a pending phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, slated for 9 am ET.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 0.25 to 26,545.10, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 44 to 42. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.4 % on the day, but the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.3%.

Leading the upside was Sands China, gaining 6.2%, while Wuxi Biologics declined 2.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 3,820.09.

On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 0.5%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.2%, and the Thai Set declined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.5%.