People crossing street in Tokyo’s busy Akihabara downtown area
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Asia-Pacific markets were set to start Friday largely lower with investors assessing November inflation numbers from Japan’s capital of Tokyo and industrial production figures from South Korea.
The headline inflation rate in Tokyo came in at 2.6%, a rebound from the 1.8% seen in October.
Core inflation, which excludes costs of fresh food, rose to 2.2% compared with Reuters poll expectations of 2.1%.
Tokyo’s inflation numbers are widely considered to be an indicator of nationwide trends.
Separately, South Korea’s industrial production saw a 2.3% increase year on year in October, marking a reversal from the 1.3% fall in September.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was set to fall, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,215 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,180 against the index’s last close of 38,349.06.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day marginally lower.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 19,455, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 19,366.96.
U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday, and will be open only for a half day on Friday.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.