Asian Stocks Up, but Inflation Concerns Remain

By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly up on Thursday morning, with investors digesting surprisingly poor Australian employment data and the hottest U.S. inflation print in three decades.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.73% by 9:09 PM ET (2:09 AM GMT), while South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.31%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 0.84%. Australian employment data released earlier in the day showed that the employment change contracted by 46,300 and the full employment change contracted by 40,400 in October. The unemployment rate increased to 5.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.25%.

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.46% while the Shenzhen Component was up 0.42%.

Data released on Wednesday showed that October's consumer price index (CPI) grew 6.2% year-on-year and 0.9% month-on-month. The core CPI rose 4.6% year-on-year and 0.6% month-on-month. Meanwhile, Tuesday's data showed that the producer price index (PPI) grew 0.6% month-on-month and 8.6% year-on-year. The core PPI grew 0.4% month-on-month.

High inflation also remains a concern in China. Data released on Wednesday showed that the CPI grew 0.7% month-on-month and 1.5% year-on-year in October. The PPI grew by 13.5% year-on-year.

Higher-than-expected inflation has also brought forward expectations that central banks will hike interest rates. The Chinese and U.S. data also put a hole in the argument that inflationary pressures are temporary. However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday stuck to her view that high inflation will not persist beyond 2022 and that the U.S. Federal Reserve will work to prevent a repeat of 1970s-level inflation.

Some investors are betting that the Fed will raise rates once it completes asset tapering in mid-2022.

“This is the perfect time to gravitate toward defensive plays, to take profit, and to be in the sectors that are strategically positioned toward this volatile market that presents a lot of challenges,” Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Private Wealth Management senior vice president Katerina Simonetti told Bloomberg.

Investors also continued to be concerned that China’s economic recovery from COVID-19 is showing signs of slowing down. Meanwhile, China Evergrande Group again averted default after paying the overdue interest on three U.S. dollar bonds.

The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee will wrap up its meeting on Thursday and is expected to open the way for an unprecedented third term for President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, China’s annual Singles Day shopping festival takes place on Thursday.

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