Pedestrians cross crowded traffic at Shibuya Crossing Square in Tokyo.
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Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday, with U.S. stock futures flat on Thanksgiving Day and the Nasdaq Composite on track to end a seven-month winning streak.
Asian traders are evaluating Tokyo’s inflation data as a leading indicator of where domestic inflation is heading.
Tokyo’s headline inflation rate in October fell slightly to 2.7% from 2.8% the previous month, but the core inflation rate was 2.8%, slightly higher than the 2.7% expected by economists compiled by Reuters.
Japan’s core inflation strips away fresh food prices, but also includes energy prices.
Investors will also keep an eye on India’s second-quarter fiscal GDP to September, to be released later on Friday.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average Although the index fell by 0.15%, the overall TOPIX remained almost unchanged.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.61%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.66%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day just above the flatline.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures stood at 25,935, below the HSI’s closing price of 25,945.93.
Overnight in the US, all three major indexes were little changed. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose just 10 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were trading just above the flatline.
When trading resumes on Friday, the stock is on pace for a losing month. A decline in tech stocks weighed on major averages in November as questions swirled about the future profitability of AI companies.
But some investors are hoping this month’s decline could be a sign of year-end gains in major averages, as they look to buy stocks that have been unfairly punished at more attractive valuations.
U.S. markets were closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. The stock market closes early on Friday at 1:00 pm (Eastern Time).
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
