01/12/2024 – 5:57
By Sergio Caldas*
São Paulo, 01/12/2024 – Asian stock markets closed mostly lower this Friday, amid renewed concerns about the deflationary trend in China. The exception was the Japanese market, which overcame the region's bad mood and continued a recent rally.
The main Chinese stock index, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.16% today, to 2,881.98 points, while the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite lost 0.64%, to 1,749.42 points.
Official data showed that China's consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.3% year-on-year in December, its third consecutive fall, while the producer price index (PPI) fell 2.7% in December. same period, extending the decline to the 15th month in a row. Weak inflation numbers overshadowed the better-than-expected performance of Chinese exports last month.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Hang Seng lost 0.35% in Hong Kong, to 16,244.58 points, the South Korean Kospi fell 0.60% in Seoul, to 2,525.05 points, in the eighth consecutive negative session, and Taiex registered a modest drop of 0.19% in Taiwan, at 17,512.83 points.
In Tokyo, on the other hand, the Nikkei extended the rally of recent days, closing at the highest level in almost 34 years for the fourth consecutive session. The Japanese index advanced 1.50%, to 35,577.11 points, driven by shares in conglomerates such as Marubeni (+1.4%), Mitsui (+2.2%) and Mitsubishi (+1.8%). During the week, the Nikkei accumulated a robust gain of 6.6%.
In Oceania, the Australian stock market was slightly red, following the predominant tone in Asia. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.10% in Sydney, to 7,498.30 points.
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*With information from Dow Jones Newswires
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