Asia report: Markets finish mixed as consumer inflation rises in China

Markets in Asia finished in a mixed state on Tuesday, as investors digested fresh data out of China which showed a jump in consumer prices during November.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.09% at 23,410.19, as the yen strengthened 0.02% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 108.54.

The major components of the benchmark index were all in the red, with Fanuc down 0.26%, Fast Retailing off 0.4%, and SoftBank Group 0.3% weaker.

Video games giant Nintendo was well into the green, rising 2.86% as it officially launched its wildly popular Switch gaming console in the Chinese market.

The broader Topix index was off 0.08% by the end of Tokyo’s trading day, closing at 1,720.77.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% firmer at 2,917.32, as the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite added 0.38% to 1,646.82.

In fresh data out of China during the day, the country’s consumer price index rose 4.5% year-on-year for November.

According to the numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics, the inflation was led by a 19.1% jump in food prices as the country grappled with an outbreak of African swine fever in its pork supply.

At the same time, the country’s producer price index was down 1.4% year-on-year for the month of November.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.45% higher at 2,098.00, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 0.22% to settle at 26,436.62.

The blue-chip technology stocks were mixed in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics up 0.59%, as chipmaker SK Hynix closed flat.

Investor attention was once again set on the state of play in trade negotiations between the United States and China, as a report from Bloomberg overnight suggested that Washington was unlikely to go ahead with planned tariffs on Chinese goods on 15 December.

The report cited US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as saying he did “not believe those [tariffs due on 15 December] will be implemented, and I think we may see some backing away”.

Traders have been holding their collective breath in the hope that Beijing and Washington can reach some sort of first phase deal on trade ahead of the planned implementation of the latest round of punitive tariffs, more than a year into the ongoing trade war.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said the lack of a concrete phase one agreement between the two economic superpowers was not doing markets any favours.

“With the latter set to impose tariffs on another $156bn in goods from the later this Sunday, the lack of a deal is only going to become more of an issue as the week goes on.

“Tuesday’s losses may well be a sign of that already.”

Oil prices were lower at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude last down 0.14% at $64.16 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate falling 0.1% to $58.96.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.34% to close at 6,706.90, while across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was 0.5% higher at 11,284.22.

On the Wellington bourse, specialty dairy exporter A2 Milk began to recover from its Monday decline, rising 2.4% by end-of-play on Tuesday.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.15% at AUD 1.4678, and the Kiwi retreating 0.05% to NZD 1.5281.