Asia-Pacific stocks trade mixed as Tokyo inflation runs hotter than expected
Pedestrians walking through crowded traffic at the Shibuya crossing plaza in Tokyo, Japan.
Jaczhou | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday as U.S. stock futures remained flat through Thanksgiving and the Nasdaq Composite was on track to end its seven-month winning streak.
Traders across Asia are weighing inflation data from Tokyo, a leading indicator of where national inflation is heading.
October inflation in Tokyo decreased slightly to 2.7% from 2.8% in the previous month, while core inflation was 2.8%, slightly above the 2.7% expected by economists surveyed by Reuters.
Core inflation in Japan excludes fresh food prices but includes energy prices.
Investors will also watch India’s GDP for its second fiscal quarter, which runs through September, later on Friday.
of japan Nikkei 225 It fell 0.15% at the open, while the broad-based Topix was little changed.
South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.61%, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.66%.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 started the day just above the horizontal line.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures settled at 25,935, below the HSI’s last close of 25,945.93.
There wasn’t much change in all three major indexes in the US overnight. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose only 10 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures traded just above the horizontal line.
Stocks are heading for a losing month as trading resumes on Friday. The decline in technology stocks weighed on major averages in November as doubts emerged about the future profitability of AI companies.
But some investors are hopeful that this month’s decline will signal a year-end rally for the major averages, as they step in to buy stocks that have been unfairly penalized by more attractive valuations.
US markets were closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. The stock market will close early on Friday at 1pm ET.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
