Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday following fresh highs on Wall Street and better-than-expected Australian inflation data.
By 11:55 am AEDT, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 had climbed 0.3% to 8,710.60, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.5% to 52,242.64 and South Korea’s Kospi 200 had risen 0.8% to 664.91.
The ASX 200 was supported by inflation data with the consumer price index up 3.4% in the 12 months to November, a decrease from 3.8% in October and below consensus estimates of 3.6%.
Trimmed mean inflation was 3.2% in November, declining from 3.3% and in line with estimates.
Japan will also release purchasing managers’ index data for November today.
In the United States, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7%. The S&P 500 and Dow reached new records.
Brent crude prices dropped 1.7% to US$60.70 per barrel. Shares in Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips dipped during the U.S. trading session, erasing much of the previous day’s gains.
Spot gold fell 0.1% to $4,491.77 per ounce.
The Shanghai Composite rose by 1.5% to 4,083.67. The CSI 300 increased by 1.6% to 4,790.69.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was was up 1.4% to 26,710.45, while India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.4% to 85,063.34.
European markets gained, with the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up 1.2% to 10,122.73, Germany’s DAX rising 0.1% to 24,892.20 and France’s CAC 40 climbing 0.3% to 8,237.43.
