Asian stocks mixed, edging into bear territory as trade concerns weigh

Asian equities are leaning towards the downside for Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index back into the 22,400.00 region despite a positive showing for Japan's GDP numbers early in the day, and brewing trade concerns are again rearing their heads to take the top off of market-wide risk appetite.

The US is imposing trade sanctions on Russia over the chemical attack on a former Russian double agent in the UK earlier this year, and a fresh round of tariffs between the US and China going both ways are also due in the coming weeks, and concerns about the stability of the global economy in the face of an accelerating trade war are keeping equities restrained and bulls locked in their paddocks as mixed investment sentiment prevents traders from established any dedicated bull runs.

Japan's leading Nikkei 225 index is down -0.47% while Tokyo's Topix index steepens the decline, falling -0.65% so far for the day, while Chinese indexes go mixed for Friday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down -0.17% and Shanghai's CSI 300 taking the other side to go 0.17% into the green; Australia's ASX 200 index, not wanting to be left out of the fun, is also down -0.10% as the week rounds itself out.

Nikkei 225 levels to watch

The Nikkei 225 is testing back into 22,450.00 on a bearish Friday after edging up through the week to tap into 22,600.00, but a lack of sustained buying power is taking the index back into recent lows, and the Nikkei is close to challenging support from recent swing lows near 22,340.00, while a resurgence of bidders will see resistance from this week's high at 22,800.00.