06:38 AM EDT, 07/30/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets finished unevenly Wednesday on the China-US trade outlook and ahead of central bank decisions in Washington and Tokyo.

Hong Kong fell back, Shanghai edged up and Tokyo finished flat. Other regional exchanges moved higher.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly and finished essentially flat as traders took to the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve rate announcement slated for later in the day, and the Bank of Japan rate announcement scheduled for Thursday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 19.85 to 40,654.70, although gaining issues outnumbered losers 156 to 66.

Leading the upside was Sumitomo Pharma, up 16.3% after an upgrade from brokerage JP Morgan, while factory-automation outfit Keyence declined 4.8%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly but slipped in afternoon trading, finishing off 1.4% after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said an extension of a US-China trade-negotiation deadline, presently calendared for Aug. 12, still awaits approval by President Donald Trump.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 347.52 to 25,176.93, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 49 to 32. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1%.

Leading the upside was PetroChina, gaining 3.9%, while Li Auto declined 12.8%, the latter after a Morningstar report predicted squeezed profit margins in China's competitive auto industry.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,615.72.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.7%; the Taiwan TWSE added 1.1%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index retreated 0.2%, and the Thai Set rose 0.9%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.2%.