Asia-Pacific markets mixed as investors assess China industrial profits, Australia inflation data

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday, following gains on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reach new intraday and closing records.

China’s industrial profits dropped by 10% in October from a year ago, data showed Wednesday, in another sign that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures have yet to reverse a slump in corporate earnings.

Traders in Asia also assessed inflation data out of Australia. Monthly consumer price index figures rose 2.1% in October year on year, missing the 2.3% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The figure was in line with the rise in the month of September, and down significantly from the 5.6% registered in September 2023.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.3%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 gained 0.9%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading up 0.6%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%, while the broad-based Topix dropped 0.8%.

The South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi index was down 0.2%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was trading flat.

In the U.S. on Tuesday, the blue-chip Dow advanced 123.74 points, or 0.28%, to a record close of 44,860.31, while the S&P 500 added 0.57% to a record 6,021.63. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.63% to 19,174.30.

The strong performance came after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called for a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10% levy on Chinese goods.

Trump has already said he would impose a tariff of up to 20% on all imports, and an additional duty of at least 60% on products from China.

According to one market analyst that spoke to CNBC, market participants appeared to look past Trump’s announcement as they either expect the taxes to not actually come to fruition, or they have already been priced in by traders.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report.