Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday as investors parsed trade data that just came out of Japan.
Japan’s exports in November grew 6.1% year on year, data from the country’s finance ministry released Wednesday showed. The growth sharply beat expectations of an average 4.8% rise estimated by economists polled by Reuters, and was higher than the 3.6% seen in the previous month.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat, while the Topix declined 0.25%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.72%, and the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 0.19%.
Japanese financial institution SBI Shinsei Bank rose over 12% after a 322 billion yen ($2.1 billion) IPO. The shares were priced at 1,450 yen each.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.25%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was marginally up, while the CSI 300 on mainland China was slightly lower.
Shares of crypto exchange HashKey opened about 3% higher as it debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange, after raising about $207 million in its initial public offering.
Oil prices climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media platform Truth Social that he will be ordering a “TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS” entering and leaving Venezuela.
West Texas Intermediate rose over 1% to $55.96 per barrel. U.S. crude oil prices fell nearly 3% on Tuesday to close at the lowest level since early 2021, as a looming surplus and possible peace agreement in Ukraine weigh on the market.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 fell for a third session as traders digested the delayed release of the November jobs report.
The broad market index dropped 0.24% to settle at 6,800.26, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.23% to end at 23,111.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 302.30 points, or 0.62%, to close at 48,114.26.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC