Japan’s headline inflation rate declined to 2.8 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in October, the slowest pace of inflation since July 2022
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday, with the Bank of Japan’s October meeting minutes showing board members debated on how to communicate the shift in their yield control stance.
Japan’s headline inflation rate declined to 2.8 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in October, the slowest pace of inflation since July 2022.
Core inflation — which leaves out prices of fresh food — came in at 2.5 per cent, in line with expectations of a Reuters poll of economists and lower than October’s figure of 2.9 per cent.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped slightly, staying largely near the flatline in the trading session and closing at 7,501.6.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded after leading losses in Asia on Thursday, with the index 0.3 per cent higher and the Topix up 0.54 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi also added 0.24 per cent, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.1 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.57 per cent, but the mainland Chinese CSI 300 was the exception among major Asian benchmarks, dropping slightly.
Separately, Hong Kong tech stocks slumped after heavyweights Tencent and NetEase responded to China releasing draft rules on curbing excessive gaming and spending.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rebounded, with the S&P 500 adding 1.03 per cent to recover from its worst day since September as the year-end rally resumed.
That places the broad market index nearly 1 per cent from its closing high and 1.5 per cent from its intraday record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.87 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.26 per cent to 14,963.87.
