Vigil held in honor of victims of shooting at Capital Jewish Museum

This is CNBC s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets Asia-Pacific markets mostly climbed Friday as investors assess a slew of economic statistics from the region Japan s benchmark Nikkei rose and the Topix climbed South Korea s Kospi rose while the small-cap Kosdaq was down Australia s benchmark S P ASX was up Hong Kong s Hang Seng index and mainland China s CSI traded flat at the open The U S and China agreed to maintain communication following a call between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and U S Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau according to a readout distributed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday Japan s core inflation accelerated to in April administration details presented Friday bolstered in part by surging rice prices as the central bank considers pausing its rate-hike stance to assess the effects of U S tariffs Investors are also parsing South Korea s PPI figures for April and New Zealand s retail sales for the first quarter of the year Singapore s core inflation in April grew year on year higher than Reuters forecast of a climb U S stock futures were little changed as investors continue to evaluate the effect of higher U S Treasury yields on the economic system Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added points or Nasdaq futures were marginally lower while S P futures ticked up Overnight stateside the three major averages closed mixed as investors grappled with fears of rising rates and worries about a ballooning U S deficit The -year Treasury yield hit its highest since as lawmakers passed a bill that investors fear could worsen the U S deficit The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped points closing at The S P lost and ended at while the Nasdaq Composite advanced and settled at CNBC s Lisa Kailai Han and Yun Li contributed to this analysis Kazakhstan aims to be a gateway for deal in Central Asia Astana International Financial Center governor Kazakhstan aims to be the gateway for exchange between the East and the West reported Renat Bekturov governor of the Astana International Financial Center In the modern world with the tariffs and then there s the geopolitical tensions businesses need a point of stability and we need a place where the East and West can connect Bekturov reported CNBC s Emily Tan on The China Connection Thursday In the region there are no other analogies Other financial centers close by are in the Gulf region Bekturov added He noted that trading progress on the Astana International Exchange has been tremendous In the trading volume achieved billion dollars per year certainly still small However this is twice more than in the previous five years Oliver Walker Neha Hegde India s SEBI looking into secondary listings via instruments like depository receipts Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI Tuhin Kanta Pandey revealed that particular proposals are in the works for more secondary listings via instruments like depository receipts When sought for more details Pandey informed CNBC s Sri Jegarajah that there is a preliminary proposal at the moment SEBI is also trying to make it easier for foreign investors to invest in Indian equities by continuing with its Foreign Portfolio Investor FPI outreach cell which is geared at actively engaging with FPIs and assisting them in navigating the Indian securities domain Lee Ying Shan China says U S dialogue to continue as China hints transaction talks are advancing The U S and China have agreed to maintain communication following a call between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and U S Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau on Thursday according to a readout distributed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday Both sides exchanged thoughts on crucial issues during the call the declaration explained without elaborating Read the full story here Correction This story has been updated to reflect the call was with U S Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau Anniek Bao There s a lower likelihood of U S and Japan exchange deal by mid-June says Eurasia Group The likelihood of the U S and Japan finalizing a comprehensive bargain agreement by the G Summit in Canada in mid-June has dropped from to Eurasia Group s director of Japan and Asian business David Boling and squad stated in a note Although the leaders of both countries have strong incentives to reach a deal sooner rather than later Eurasia Group s analysts noted that the pace of negotiations is lagging as the U S tariff on Japanese automobiles remains a sticking point However if the U S agrees to negotiate over the automobile tariff with Japan the chances of a deal will improve revealed Boling Lee Ying Shan Japan s core inflation climbs to highest in more than years Japan s core inflation accelerated to in April regime statistics presented on Friday as persistent cost pressure strengthens the occurrence for the central bank to focus on exiting its decade-long ultra-easy monetary program The core inflation figure which strips out prices for fresh food was higher than expectations of according to economists polled by Reuters marking the highest level since January according to LSEG statistics Headline inflation climbed from a year ago staying above the Bank of Japan s target for more than three years steady from the prior month Read the full story here Anniek Bao South Korea producer prices climb at slower rate in April South Korea s September producer prices in April slowed to year-on-year compared to in March On a monthly basis the PPI fell after two consecutive months of no change The producer price index tracks the changes in prices between producers compared to the consumer price index which tracks changes in consumer prices Lee Ying Shan S P closes little changed The S P closed little changed on Thursday afternoon The sector benchmark slipped to close at The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed about point and finished at The Nasdaq Composite on the other hand added to settle at Lisa Kailai Han Citi expects expansion to weaken in second half of NYSECiti is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March Citi expects a worst economic outlook for the second half of the year The bank attributed this partially to U S consumers and firms frontloading their spending to get ahead of tariffs As the full effects of the tariffs come online likely over the next limited months demand could face a double blow The tariffs could reduce real purchasing power and in addition frontloaded purchases will be paid back ' global chief economist Nathan Sheets wrote in a Wednesday note As such we view the current period as still the calm before the storm and we expect expansion in the second half of the year to weaken Lisa Kailai Han