Asia-Pacific Markets Show Mixed Performance

On Friday, major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region exhibited a mixed performance as investors processed recent economic developments.

Investors focused on Japan's latest inflation data, which revealed an increase to 2.9%. Meanwhile, the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) opted to maintain steady interest rates, mirroring its November decision.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped by 1.38% at 3:24 am CET, followed closely by South Korea's Kospi Composite, which fell by 1.21% a minute later. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined by 0.13% at 3:25 am CET. In contrast, the Shanghai Composite on the Chinese mainland gained 0.12%, while the Shenzhen Composite remained unchanged at 3:26 am CET. Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a modest increase of 0.19% at 3:27 am CET.

The U.S. dollar weakened by 0.22% against the Japanese yen, trading at ¥156.9750 at 3:28 am CET.