A view of high-rise buildings is seen along the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, China on July 5, 2023.
Ying Tang | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were largely lower Friday, except for Japan, which continued its record-breaking rally, while investors awaited a slew of economic data out of China, including inflation and trade numbers for December.
Both the benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix are at their highest levels since 1990, having surged in the past week.
The Nikkei popped 2.1% on open before paring some gains, while the broader Topix was up 0.53%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 opened 0.38% lower, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.15% and the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.65%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,236, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s last close of 16,302.04.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes ended Thursday close to the flat line even as U.S. inflation for December came in higher than expected.
December’s consumer price index report came out slightly higher-than-expected, reflecting a 0.3% increase in consumer prices for the month, pushing the annual rate to 3.4%, compared to the 3.2% expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
The Nasdaq Composite closed at the flat line, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 0.04%.
The S&P 500 edged lower by 0.07%, although earlier in the session, the broad market index briefly traded above its record closing high of 4,796.56.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed to this report