SHANGHAI, CHINA – MARCH 01: Skyscrapers stand at the Pudong Lujiazui Financial District on March 1, 2022 in Shanghai, China.
Xiao Yang | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific shares were mostly higher as investors look ahead to the U.S. consumer price index report Thursday. Economists expect inflation to have cooled in December, which could signal to the Federal Reserve that previous interest rates hikes have had their intended effects.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.18% up at 7,280.4 after the release of the country’s November trade balance.
The Nikkei 225 closed flat to stand at 26,449.82 while the Topix climbed 0.36% to 1,908.18. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.24% to 2,365.1 while the Kosdaq dipped 0.15% to 710.82.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined fractionally, reversing earlier gains. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.051% to close at 3,163.45 and the Shenzhen Component was up 0.23% to 11,465.73. China’s consumer price index rose 1.8% in December from a year ago, in line with Reuters’ expectations.
India’s inflation data for December is also slated for release.
Overnight on Wall Street, major stock indexes closed higher. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the inflation print to show that prices cooled by a modest 0.1% in December from November.