The Seoul skyline.
Mongkol Chuewong | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday, breaking ranks from Wall Street gains as investors also assess a slate of economic data in the region.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.31%, while the Topix lost 0.39% after core consumer prices in Tokyo rose at a slower pace in August. The Tokyo core CPI, which strips out fresh food but includes energy, climbed 2.5% from a year earlier, matching Reuters’ economists’ forecasts, and easing from July’s 2.9% increase. The figure however remained above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target.
Japan’s unemployment rate also eased to 2.3% in July, down from 2.5% the previous month.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.31% while the Kosdaq Index climbed 0.76%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched 0.11% higher.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 25,104, pointing to a higher open compared to the HSI’s last close of 24,998.82.
Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed higher. The broad market S&P 500 index finished 0.32% higher at 6,501.86 after hitting a new all-time intraday high above the 6,500 level. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day up 0.53% at 21,705.16, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71.67 points, or 0.16% to end at 45,636.90, which was also a record.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
