People crossing street in Tokyo’s busy Akihabara downtown area
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Asia-Pacific markets started Friday lower, with investors assessing November inflation numbers from Japan’s capital of Tokyo and industrial production figures from South Korea.
The 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.
South Korea’s Kospi led losses in the region, down 1.38%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was over 1% lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.72% after the inflation data release, while the broad-based Topix was 0.50% lower.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.52%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 19,455, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 19,366.96.
U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday, and will be open only for a half day on Friday.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
