Australia
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Asia-Pacific opened higher Wednesday, following gains on Wall Street that saw the Nasdaq Composite surge to record highs after November’s inflation report met expectations.
Traders in Asia assessed jobs data from Australia, which showed the country’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in November from 4.1% the month prior. A poll of economists from Reuters had expected the rate to rise to 4.2%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.1% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.7% at market open, while the Topix gained 1.3%.
South Korea’s Kospi index opened up 1%, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.2% as investors appear to shrug off the political turmoil in the country.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 20,215 higher than the HSI’s last close of 20,155.05. Hong Kong will release industrial production data for the third quarter later in the day.
In the U.S. on Wednesday, relatively tame inflation data fueled hopes for an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.77% to end at 20,034.89 and post an all-time high and a closing record.
The broad market S&P 500 gained 0.82% to close at 6,084.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, falling 99.27 points, or 0.22%, to 44,148.56.
Nvidia rose more than 3%, while Tesla advanced nearly 6%, alongside a broader rise in several major companies.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Alex Harring contributed to this report.