Major Asia-Pacific stocks increased at the close of today's trading. Most indices rose up to 0.5%, including China's Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite. They added 0.0% and 0.33% respectively. At the same time, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.25%. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 increased slightly more, gaining 0.65%, while the Korean KOSPI rose by 2.74%. Only the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index declined slightly, falling by 0.11%.
Investors around the world, including Asian investors, were more active in the market ahead of the release of the US inflation data. Experts projected consumer price growth in the country to fall to 8.1% in August from 8.5% in July. If this data turns out to be true, bidders expect the Fed to pursue a more dovish monetary policy.
However, there is another view that rising inflation in the US continues due to several reasons, mostly the uncertain future of industrial factors, including energy and agricultural products.
Among the components of Japan's Nikkei 225, shares of Nintendo Co., Ltd. were top gainers. They rose by 5.2% on record sales of a new game launched by the company, totaling 3.45 million copies in the first three days.
Shares of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.Ltd. also increased by 4.3% and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. added 4.1%.
Shares of Haidilao International Holding Ltd., WH Group, Ltd. and Lenovo Group Ltd. were top gainers among the components of Hong Kong Hang Seng Index. They added 6.3%, 5.4%, and 5% respectively.
Shares of NIO Inc. gained 17.3% due to a positive recommendation from Citi experts following a 63% increase in sales of electric cars manufactured by NIO last month.
At the same time, the shares of Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc. fell by 18.4% due to increased competition in the market of biopharmaceutical companies. The situation worsened after the US President signed a decree on state support for national companies in this sector.
The reason for the significant increase of Korea's KOSPI index was the dramatic rise in the companies' shares included in it. Therefore, stocks of Samsung Electronics rose by 4.5% and SK Hynix gained 3.9%.
The components of the Australian S&P/ASX 200 showed mixed trading. The shares of Star Entertainment Group Ltd. increased by 3.6% despite the decision of the country's regulator that the company could not operate in the casino industry. Currently, the decision on any sanctions against the company has not been made.
The shares of another major company Ramsay Health Care Ltd. fell by 10% after the news came that KKR was not planning to increase the amount of the buyout offer for Ramsay Health Care, which the latter had already refused in 2022.
