06:37 AM EDT, 06/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were choppy on Friday as investors mulled Beijing-Washington trade relations and foreign exchange rates.

Tokyo gained, Shanghai was flat, and Hong Kong lost ground. Other regional exchanges were also uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and held ground, finishing up 0.5% as a softer yen aided export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 187.12 to 37,741.61, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 147 to 76.

Leading the upside was online marketplace Mercari, up 4.4%, while Yaskawa Electric declined 2.9%.

In economic news, the average monthly consumption expenditure per two-person-or-more household in April was 325,717 yen, up 4.0% in nominal terms on year, but down 0.1% in real or inflation-adjusted terms, reported the Statistics Bureau.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened but drifted lower, finishing down 0.5% after a Thursday phone call between US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping produced some improvement, but no pathways to solutions to the US-China trade impasse.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 114.43 to 23,792.54, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 44 to 32. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.6% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.1%.

Leading the upside was CSPC Pharmaceutical, gaining 12.7%, while Semiconductor Manufacturing International declined 4.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was steady at 3,385.36.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.4%, and the Thai Set declined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.9%.