The main stock markets of the Asian continent leave a mixed sign this Thursday, when the data of the Chinese CPI and the production prices of the second world power have been released. Investors are also keeping a close eye on developments around the Omicron variant of Covid.
Mainland China’s shares have been trading higher. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.97% to 3,673 points and Shenzhen’s 1.23% to 15,147.87 points .
The Chinese consumer price index (CPI) for the month of November rose less than expected, 2.3% compared to the 2.5% predicted by a Reuters poll. However, the prices of fresh food, especially vegetables, have risen by 30.6% , while pork, which weighs heavily in the global price index, has done so by 12.2%.
This morning the data of the producer price index (PPI) were also released, which rose 12.9% , exceeding expectations of an increase of 12.4%. But the November level was a slowdown compared to October, when the index rose 13.5%.
READ ALSO :
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.47% to 28,725.47, while the Topix Index fell 0.57% to 1,990.79.
In Australia, the ASX 200 lost 0.28% to 7,384.50, and most sectors closed lower. The energy and materials sub-indices fell 1.09% and 0.51%. Shares of large mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP fell 0.94% and 1.2%, respectively.
South Korean stocks advanced, with the benchmark Kospi index gaining 0.93% to 3,029.57 and the Kosdaq rising 1.67% to 1,022.87.
I’m a science journalist and host of Cosmic Controversy (brucedorminey.podbean.com) as well as author of “Distant Wanderers: the Search for Planets Beyond the Solar System.” I primarily cover aerospace and astronomy. I’m a former Hong Kong bureau chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and former Paris-based technology correspondent for the Financial Times newspaper who has reported from six continents. A 1998 winner in the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards (AJOYA), I’ve interviewed Nobel Prize winners and written about everything from potato blight to dark energy. Previously, I was a film and arts correspondent in New York and Europe, primarily for newspaper outlets like the International Herald Tribune, the Boston Globe and Canada’s Globe & Mail. Recently, I’ve contributed to Scientific American.com, Nature News, Physics World, and Yale Environment 360.com. I’m a current contributor to Astronomy and Sky & Telescope and a correspondent for Renewable Energy World. Twitter @bdorminey