Asian Markets Drop as Investors Assess China Stimulus
Asia-Pacific markets fell on Friday, mirroring Wall Street’s moves, weighed down by a higher-than-expected reading on producer price inflation.
The producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation, rose 0.4% in November, beating the Dow Jones estimate of 0.2%. On an annualized basis, the PPI rose 3%, its biggest gain since the 12 months ended February 2023.
In Asia, investors weighed China’s stimulus pledge after Beijing on Thursday reiterated its recent policy shift and emphasized plans to boost growth after a key meeting.
Investors also weighed the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey, which showed stronger-than-expected optimism among Japan’s big manufacturers.
The Tankan index for large manufacturers rose to 14 in the December quarter, up from 13 in the September quarter and beating the 12 expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The index tracks business sentiment in the country among large companies and contributes to the BOJ’s considerations when shaping monetary policy. A higher reading means optimists outnumber pessimists, and vice versa.
India will also release wholesale inflation figures for November. Economists polled by Reuters expect India’s wholesale inflation rate to ease to 2.2% from 2.36% in October. The country’s consumer inflation eased from a 14-month high, data showed on Thursday.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index were at 20,219, indicating a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 20,397.05
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.71%, while the broad-based Topix suffered a bigger loss of 0.85%.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.22%, but the small-cap Kosdaq was just above the flatline.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index started the day down 0.66%.
In overnight U.S. trading, all three major indexes fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.53% for its sixth straight day of losses.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell from the 20,000 level and was down 0.66%, while the broad-market S&P 500 index fell 0.54%.
Source: CNBC
