On Friday, shares in the Asia-Pacific markets remained mixed, as investors were digesting the inflation data from Japan. On Friday, official data showed that there was a 2.2% increase in the prices in Japan last month as opposed to a year earlier, which was in accordance with what had been expected.
Japan’s performance
After experiencing losses earlier in the day, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan recorded gains of 0.4% and ended the day at 27,914.66. Meanwhile, a 0.28% increase was recorded in the Topix index, which took it to a value of 1,955.97.
Market analysts said that the CPI data indicated that a sharp fall in food prices had allowed cost-push inflation in the country to stabilize. But, they added that inflation was expected to rise in the coming months and could go past the 2.5% mark. As for core inflation, it is expected to stay above 2% for this year.
In addition, they also said that the Bank of Japan was not expected to change its monetary policy, considering that the inflation in the country is not driven by demand. The Bank of Japan had its policy meeting on Thursday in which it chose to keep its interest rates at the ultra-low level.
Mixed Asia-Pacific markets
There was a 0.66% drop in the Kospi index in South Korea, which brought it to 2,393.14, while a 0.68% decline was seen in the Kosdaq index that bringing it to 789.75. There was little change in the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index, which left it at 6,791.5.
There was a 0.12% increase in the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong in the last hour of trading, but the mainland Chinese markets pared the gains made earlier to fall at the end of the day. The Shanghai Composite index came down to 3,269.97.
There was a 1.3% drop in the Shenzhen Component in the session, but it was able to trim some of its losses to end the day at 12,394.02, which is a loss of 0.49%. As for the MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares other than Japan, it remained flat for most of the day.
US markets
Overnight, the US markets recorded gains due to positive earnings data. There was a 1.36% gain in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index, which closed the day at 12,059.61. This was due to a surge in Tesla’s shares. There was also a 1% gain in the S&P 500 index, which ended the session at a value of 3,998.95.
A 0.51% gain was also recorded in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which saw gains of 162.06 points to reach 32,036.90. The US dollar index that measures the greenback against some of its major peers, fell from last week’s value to reach 106.791.
There was a rise in the Japanese yen against the US dollar, as it reached 137.61, as it rose from recent levels of 138 against the currency. The Australian dollar had also been at $0.6880 but managed to rise to $0.6917.