People crossing street in Tokyo’s busy Akihabara downtown area
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Asia-Pacific markets mostly lost ground on Friday, with investors assessing November inflation numbers from Japan’s capital of Tokyo and industrial production figures from South Korea.
The November headline inflation rate in Tokyo came in at 2.6%, a rebound from the 1.8% seen in October.
Core inflation, which excludes costs of fresh food, rose to 2.2% compared with Reuters poll expectations of 2.1%.
Tokyo’s inflation numbers are widely considered to be an indicator of nationwide trends.
Separately, South Korea’s industrial production saw a 2.3% increase year on year in October, marking a reversal from the 1.3% fall in September.
Still, the country’s benchmark index, Kospi, fell 1.74% while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.75%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.59% after the inflation data release, while the broad-based Topix was 0.35% lower.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.35%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the trend and gained 0.21% in early trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was marginally down.
U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday, and will be open only for a half day on Friday.
