HONG KONG — Asian shares were mixed on Friday after U.S. markets were closed Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
U.S. futures and oil prices rose.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4% to 38,191.93 after the government reported that inflation in Tokyo, considered an indicator for national trends, was 2.6% in November, up from 1.8% last month mainly due to a surge in fresh food prices. Core inflation, which excludes fresh food prices, rose modestly to 2.2% year-on-year from 1.8% in October.
Higher inflation tends to reinforce expectations that the Bank of Japan will push ahead with more increases in its benchmark lending rate. That, in turn, pushes up the value of the Japanese yen, which was trading at 149.94 to the U.S. dollar early Friday. A week earlier it was trading above 155 yen per dollar.
The central bank’s current policy rate is 0.25%. It only ended a long spell of negative rates in March on the presumption that Japan had largely achieved its 2% inflation target.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 2% to 2,454.78 after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate on Thursday to relieve pressure on its slowing economy. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,436.20.
Chinese markets advanced. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained over 1% in midday trading and increased by 0.1% to 19,389.12 in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite index surged 1.1% to 3,332.50. Gains in retailers’ stocks drove market gains after a two-day meeting in Beijing focused on promoting consumption ended on Thursday. Shares of Yonghui Superstore, China’s fifth-largest hypermarket chain operator, surged by over 10%.
Investors also are looking ahead to a major economic planning meeting that is usually held in December.
U.S. markets will reopen for a half day on Friday.
The holiday Thursday brough a respite in news on President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for after he takes office, after markets were rocked earlier in the week by his announcement that he plans to order immediate sharp tariff hikes on imports from Canada, Mexico and China.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Dow fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, fell 0.6%.
In other dealings Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 45 cents to $69.17 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, added 10 cents to $72.88 per barrel.
The euro rose to $1.0580 from $1.0554.
