Stocks in Asia went in different directions. Some traded lower: Chinese Shenzhen Composite and Shanghai Composite lost 0.01% and 0.18% respectively, Hong Kong Hang Seng Index and Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.23% and 0.35%. At the same time, other indices were slightly higher: Korea's KOSPI gained 0.11% and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.75%.
As usual, US indicators have an influence in Asia, which also did not show much movement the day before. Investors don't make any abrupt movements since they are waiting for the latest US inflation report. According to projections, the growth rate of consumer prices slowed down to 6.5% in December from November's 7.1%.
In case the analysts' forecasts turn out to be true and inflation really slows down, investors will be more open to risk, which can contribute to a new rally on the stock markets. In light of such forecasts, investors are considering looser monetary policy and are less wary of an economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, there was a slight decline in key indicators in China as investors looked to lock in profits after a sharp rise earlier in the year thanks to an improvement in the country's economic situation following the decision to ease a number of restrictive measures.
At the same time, experts are concerned that the growing flow of tourists for the Chinese New Year celebrations (January 22) may lead to a new outbreak of coronavirus.
Among Chinese companies the biggest declines were shown by shares of Country Garden Holdings which fell 3%, New World Development which dropped 2.4%, Longfor Group Holdings which dropped 2.1% as well as Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC, Ltd. which lost 2.3% and 2%, respectively.
Other notable companies that also traded slightly lower were Netease which shed 1.3%, PetroChina and Xiaomi which shed 0.6% and 0.5% respectively and Alibaba and JD.com which lost 0.8% and 0.2%.
YTO International Express & Supply Chain Technology, Ltd. reported that it expects net profit to fall 50% in 2022 due to lower demand and transportation costs, which sent its stock price down 17% at once.
South Korean KOSPI showed slight growth despite a decrease in the quotes of the largest South Korean companies. Shares of Samsung Electronics decreased by 0.3%, and Hyundai Motor - by 0.6%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225, on the contrary, saw a rise in stock prices. Toto gained the most, gaining 9.4%, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Mining added 3.3% and 3.2% respectively, while Tokyo Electron and Advantest gained 3.1% and 1.8%.
Shares of Mitsubishi Motors gained 1.2%, Nissan Motor added 1% and Toyota Motor gained 0.4%.
At the same time, the share price of some other companies fell. Among them were Tokyo Electric Power, Co. which shed 3.1%, Kansai Electric Power, Co. which dropped 2.6%, as well as Chiba Bank, Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. which lost 1.8% and 0.8% respectively.
Among the largest Australian companies, there were some that traded lower. The share price of BHP dropped by 0.4% and Rio Tinto by 0.5%.
In addition, the share price of Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining decreased (by 2.4% and 2.3% respectively), Northern Star Resources (by 1.9%) as well as Woodside Energy and Santos (by 0.1% and 0.8%).
At the same time, shares of Treasury Wine Estates, Ltd. went up 0.2%.
