Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's highly anticipated Jackson Hole speech for clues on the outlook for United States interest rates.
By 11:55 am AEST (1:55 am GMT), Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.2% higher, Japan's Nikkei 225 had gained 0.8%, while South Korea's KOSPI 200 was down 1.1%.
Among data releases, annual core inflation in Tokyo accelerated for a third consecutive month in August, pointing to broader price pressures and strengthening the case for a Bank of Japan (BoJ) interest-rate increase as soon as next month.
Core consumer prices in Tokyo rose 1.8% from a year earlier in August, government data showed, slightly exceeding market expectations for a 1.7% increase and moving closer to the BoJ's 2% target.
The increase in the Tokyo core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, followed a 1.7% rise in July and was driven by continued increases in food prices.
A separate measure that excludes fresh food and fuel, which is closely monitored by the BOJ as a gauge of underlying inflation, increased 2.0% in August after rising 1.8% in July.
In a separate release, Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in July from 2.5% in June, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Markets had expected the rate to remain at 2.5%.
U.S. benchmark indices finished higher on Thursday, led by technology stocks following Nvidia's strong earnings outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.6%.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude settled 1.8% higher at US$88.52 a barrel, while spot gold rose 0.2% to US$4,600.49 an ounce.
Chinese equities advanced on Thursday, with the SSE Composite Index gaining 1.1% to 3,956.6 and the CSI 300 rising 0.9% to 4,630.3.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3% to 25,565.7, while India's BSE Sensex fell 0.7% to 76,933.6.
European markets finished mixed on Thursday. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.8% to 10,792.5, while Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 26,367.2. France's CAC 40 declined 1.7% to 8,319.9.
