SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Wednesday trade as investors reacted to the release of Chinese inflation data for October.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.37%, with shares of Chinese real estate firm Fantasia Holdings plunging more than 48% after returning to trade. Fantasia — whose Hong Kong-listed stock was suspended for more than a month — failed to repay a $206 million bond that matured early October.
Mainland Chinese stocks declined as the Shanghai composite fell around 0.35% while the Shenzhen component dipped 0.287%.
China’s consumer inflation for October came in roughly in line with expectations, according to official data released Wednesday. The consumer price index for October rose 1.5% from last year, against expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4% increase.
Producer prices, however, rose more than expected. The producer price index for October surged 13.5% from last year, above expectations in a Reuters poll for a 12.4% gain.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan was little changed while the Topix index climbed 0.13%. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.61%.
Shares in Australia edged higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 climbing 0.12%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.23% lower.
U.S. inflation data for October is also set to be released later Wednesday stateside.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 112.24 points to 36,319.98 while the S&P 500 shed 0.35% to 4,685.25. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6% to 15,886.54.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.974 following an earlier bounce from around 93.9.
The Japanese yen traded at 112.86 per dollar, stronger than levels above 113.5 seen against the greenback earlier in the trading week. The Australian dollar was at $0.737 following a recent drop from above $0.74.
— CNBC’s Weizhen Tan contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC