Market Overview

On Thursday, the Asia-Pacific stock markets presented a mixed picture. This comes in the wake of Australia reporting a less-than-anticipated increase in retail sales for the month, alongside China revealing an annual inflation rate of a mere 0.1%.

Performance by Region

Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a decline, dropping by 0.91% or 362 points by 7:20 am CET, as the dollar weakened against the yen, trading at ¥158.1705. Shortly after, South Korea's Kospi experienced a slight uptick of 0.12%. Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed the day 0.24% lower.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell by 0.61% by 7:07 am CET, whereas the Shenzhen Composite saw a modest increase of 0.23%. The Hong Kong market remained stable, with the Hang Seng index showing no significant change by 7:24 am CET.