Tokyo, Japan skyline with the Tokyo Tower
Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Monday, with traders assessing revised economic growth data from Japan and awaiting China’s November inflation data.
The Nikkei 225 was up 0.15%, while the Topix gained 0.2%. Japan’s third-quarter GDP was revised to 0.3% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, up from 0.2% and above estimates from a Reuters poll that predicted no change.
The Kospi in South Korea was down 1.3%, while the Kosdaq dropped 2.8% amid ongoing political turmoil in the country. Over the weekend, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment vote in parliament, but the leader of his party said the president would eventually resign.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 19,821, lower than the HSI’s last close of 19,865.85. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3%.
In the US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh records on Friday after November jobs data came in slightly better than expected. The S&P 500 climbed 0.25% to 6,090.27, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.81% to 19,859.77, bolstered by gains in Tesla, Meta Platforms and Amazon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.28% to close at 44,642.52.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq went on to their third straight positive week, rising 0.96% and 3.34%, respectively. The Dow slipped 0.6% during the period.
