Asian and Pacific Rim equity indices were broadly mixed by the morning session, Hong Kong time. This comes despite a record day on Wall Street as the U.S. House of Representatives passed the USMCA trade agreement.
Asian traders were monitoring key inflation data out of Japan as their core consumer price index ticked higher. This number came in at 0.5 percent for the month of November as consumers paid more for sushi and ice cream. However, inflation is still well below the Bank of Japan’s target of two percent.
The central bank in China, the Peoples’ Bank of China (PBOC) was also in the news today. The PBOC left their new lending benchmark, called the loan prime rate, unchanged for the month of December. This was expected and not surprising. The PBOC also kept rates on medium term loans steady.
The Asian benchmark, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.21 percent by lunchtime. In Tokyo, the broader Topix index was down 0.28 percent.
On the mainland in China, the headline indices were trading higher by lunchtime. The Shanghai composite was up 0.18 percent. The smaller Shenzhen composite added 0.23 percent and the Shenzhen component gained a quarter of a percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was also trading higher. Shares in Hong Kong added 0.38 percent.
Asian Traders Turn towards U.S. and Canadian Economic Data
U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said overnight that he said that he will not vote in favor of the USMCA trade deal that was just passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The economic calendar, for Friday, has a number of key events scheduled. Canada will be releasing both monthly core and headline retail sales data.
The United States will publish the final quarterly gross domestic product data. Traders will also see the Federal Reserve Board’s preferred measure of inflation being released.
This is the core and headline PCE price inflator. The United States will also release monthly personal spending data.