Several of Asia’s biggest markets were down or remained flat at closing on Wednesday. The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint rate at its lowest level since August 2011. The Nikkei 225 Index (NIKKEI) dropped 191.53 points, down 0.98% on the day. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) slipped 0.46%, down 101.37 points on the day.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHANGHAI) was up by 0.09%.
China released inflation numbers on Wednesday for the month of November. The country’s consumer price index (CPI) inched up 1.5% on the year, which beat analyst expectations. Economists were worried because the producer price index (PPI) fell 5.9% on the year.
Japan’s Nikkei index was down on the day, but strong economic data was released by the country. Following the revision of the country’s GDP for Q3, the numbers show that the economy is healthy and has not slipped into recession territory as previously expected. October’s core machinery orders rose 10.7%, which far surpassed the 1.5% decline that was forecasted by analysts.
Low commodity prices were the reason that the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.98% on the day.
Blue-chip stocks were down on the day, including big names such as Hitachi construction, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric. Japan’s finance ministry also announced that the country will increase 40 year government bond issuance in 2016.
