As we wind down for the day, let's take a look at the big winners and losers on the ASX.

Lithium and uranium miners led the gains, while CSL had a partial bounce-back after being smashed earlier this week. 

The biggest loser among the top 200 was Wesfarmers, after the company's managing director delivered a cautious trading update at its AGM in Perth.

I'm going to call it a day there.

We'll be back tomorrow morning, hopefully with some more details and market reaction from Europe and the US to Donald Trump's apparent trade deal with Xi Jinping.

• ASX 200: -0.5% to 8,886 points
• Australian dollar: +0.3% at 65.92 US cents
• Tokyo: +0.1% to 51,334 points
• Shanghai: -0.3% to 4,006 points
• Hong Kong: -0.2% to 26,305 points 
• S&P 500: Flat at 6,890 points
• Nasdaq: +0.6% to 23,958 points
• FTSE: +0.6% to 9,756 points 
• EuroStoxx: -0.1% to 575 points 
• Spot gold: +0.7% to $US3,958/ounce 
• Brent crude: -0.5% at $US64.62/barrel 
• Iron ore: -0.1% to $US105.80/tonne 
• Bitcoin: -1.5% to $US109,827

Prices current around 4:45pm AEDT.

Live updates from key ASX indices:

This blog will close soon, but the ABC will keep updating our stories on the outcome of US President Donald Trump's talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping.

You can read the latest version here:

Late reports of a US-China trade deal were not enough to swing the Australian market into the positive, with other Asia-Pacific markets also in the red.

At the close, the ASX 200 was 0.5% lower at 8,886 points.

Elsewhere in the region, Shanghai's benchmark share index was down 0.4% by 4,000 points around 4:30pm AEDT.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.5% lower and Tokyo's Nikkei was off 0.2%.

The Australian dollar was 0.3% higher at 65.92 US cents.

Wesfarmers' shares have slipped as much as 7% to $86.13 per share despite its chairman, Michael Chaney, declaring the group delivered "a record net profit after tax" of $2.7 billion. 

It shows a 3.8% increase in Wesfarmers' net profit compared to the prior year. 

Mr Chaney told shareholders that the company would make an additional $1.50 per share distribution in December.

The chairman also announced his retirement after next year’s AGM.

This is the latest update from the Reuters newsdesk, as Donald Trump briefs reporters on Air Force One about the outcome of his trade talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping:

US president Donald Trump said on Thursday he had agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 47% in exchange for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit trade of fentanyl.

His remarks after face-to-face talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan, their first since 2019, marked the finale of Trump's whirlwind Asia trip on which he also touted trade breakthroughs with South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

"I thought it was an amazing meeting," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after he departed Busan, adding that tariffs imposed on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57%.

Trading in global stocks was choppy as Trump revealed details of the deal, with major Asian indexes and European futures swinging between gains and losses. China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped from a 10-year high, while US soybean futures were weaker.

World stock markets from Wall Street to Tokyo had hit record highs leading up to the meeting on hopes of a breakthrough in a trade war between the world's two largest economies that has upended supply chains and rocked global business confidence.

The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, lasted nearly two hours. Trump shook hands and escorted Xi to his car before the US president was given a red carpet send-off at the airport.

If the 47% tariff rate is a total, that would be a lot lower than the cumulative retaliatory tariff rate of 145% that is scheduled to take effect from November 10, unless president Trump makes a new executive order before then modifying existing ones.

According to Reuters, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had reached a trade deal.

The US has a one-year trade pact with China, which will be routinely extended, the news outlet reports.

"We have a deal," Trump is reported to have said.

China tariffs to drop to 47% from 57%, according to the report.

Trump says he will visit China in April, with Xi to visit the US "sometime after that".

The US president also reportedly said the rare earths issue has been settled.

US financial news outlet CNBC has a similar report, but we will endeavour to confirm the details with further sources.

Oil and gas peak body Australian Energy Producers (AEP) has welcomed the federal government’s proposed reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, calling it "an opportunity to fix the broken environmental approvals system".

"It is essential that we get these reforms right to end the delays and duplication in our current system, and ensure Australians continue to have reliable and affordable energy," AEP chief executive Samantha McCulloch said.  

"Australia has some of the most stringent environmental laws in the world, but the current system is no longer fit for purpose. 

"It has become increasingly complex, duplicative and subject to activist lawfare."

Environment Minister Murray Watt has declared the opportunity to pass the government's overhauled environment laws is a "now or never" moment.

Here is what he told ABC Radio National Breakfast:

"We can't let this go around in circles for five more years because every time we wait and every time we get delayed we see the environment suffer, and we see really important housing, renewables, and other projects get held up in red tape."

The federal government has introduced the law reform for the EPBC Act to parliament today.

Chinese shares climbed to a decade high on Thursday as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping began a high-stakes meeting, fuelling cautious optimism for a potential trade-war truce that will help sustain bullish market sentiment.

Investors appeared heartened by early signs of cooling tensions between the world's top two economies after recent escalations, while also positioning defensively with a sense of deja vu that the real deal may offer far less to celebrate.

"We are going to have a very successful meeting," Mr Trump said as he shook hands with Mr Xi, adding that the pair might sign a trade deal on Thursday, local time. 

Mr Xi said via a translator that he's ready to "continue working with Trump to build a solid foundation for China-US relations".

The meeting in the southern port city of Busan was the first between the leaders since President Trump returned to office in January.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite reversed early losses, rising as much as 0.2% to 4,025.70 in morning trading, reaching its highest since 2015, driven by hopes for de-escalation in the US-China trade dispute.

The Banking, insurance, and liquor sectors led gains while sentiment remained cautious.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index 0.6% after resuming trade following a holiday on Wednesday.

Reporting with Reuters

Google-parent Alphabet has beaten Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue, as both its core advertising business and cloud computing unit showed steady growth.

The company reported total revenue of $US102.35 billion for the quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of $US99.89 billion, according to LSEG data. 

Google Cloud remained one of Alphabet's fastest-growing segments, benefiting from surging enterprise demand for AI-powered infrastructure and data analytics services.

The unit posted revenue of $US15.16 billion, topping estimates of $US14.72 billion. 

The performance was likely boosted by burgeoning enterprise demand for its AI infrastructure.

The unit continues to close the gap with larger rivals Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, aided by strong take-up of Vertex AI and custom Tensor Processing Units.

Alphabet's advertising unit, which brings the vast majority of the company's revenue, has been competing in a crowded field of rivals vying for more ad dollars as lower interest rates are expected to lift the economy.

However, analysts have pointed to cautious spending from advertisers in some sectors grappling with economic uncertainty due to pressures from tariff costs and a rapidly evolving global trading landscape.

Still, Wall Street expects the company to benefit from advertisers moving away from experimental ad platforms like Snapchat and others.

Reporting with Reuters