BEIJING, CHINA – SEPTEMBER 04: Buildings and vehicles are seen in the central business district during the rush hour on September 4, 2020 in Beijing, China.
Zhang Qiao | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher Wednesday, breaking ranks with major Wall Street benchmarks that declined ahead of key inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
South Korea reported seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 2.7% in November, according to Statistics Korea, unchanged from the previous month.
China is reportedly kicking off its annual economic work conference on Wednesday to outline its economic policies and growth targets for next year.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.31% lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 as well as the broad-based Topix opened nearly flat.
In South Korea, the blue-chip Kospi rose 0.11% and small-cap Kosdaq jumped over 2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 20,435, higher than the HSI’s last close of 20,311.28.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a fourth straight day, losing 154.10 points, or 0.35%, to 44,247.83.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to end at 6,034.91, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.25% to 19,687.24. Both indexes fell for a second straight day.
Investors await the U.S. consumer price index report for November, due on Wednesday, which could influence the Federal Reserve interest-rate path at its policy meeting from Dec. 17 to Dec. 18.
The closely-watched economic index is forecast to have risen slightly to 2.7% 12-month inflation rate, accelerating by 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, and above the Fed’s targeting annual inflation at 2%, according to the Dow Jones estimates.
— CNBC’s Sean Sonlon and Brian Evans contributed to this report.