Global inflation worries are not bypassing investors in Asia either.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt The Asian stock markets were initially mixed on Thursday. The latest minutes of the Fed meeting fueled growing investor concerns about the imminent start of the Fed’s tightening of loose monetary policy in the wake of inflation. The specter of inflation was also evident in China, with producer prices rising the fastest since the record began in 1996, official data showed.
Chinese industrial companies raised their prices more sharply than expected in September due to persistently high raw material costs, power outages and delivery bottlenecks. The producer price index (PPI) rose in September by 10.7 percent compared to the same month last year. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an inflation rate of 9.0 percent. In the previous month, producer prices had risen by 9.5 percent. The producer prices are considered to be a leading indicator for the development of inflation. In the statistics, the prices are kept ex-factory – i.e. before the products are further processed or go on sale. You can use it to give an early indication of the development of consumer prices. In the People’s Republic, inflation for consumers has so far been low. The Chinese consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.7 percent year-on-year in September. Analysts had expected an increase of 0.9 percent.
The Nikkei Index, which comprises 225 values, was 1 percent higher at 28,426 points. The broader Topix index rose 0.3 percent and stood at 1980 points. The Shanghai stock exchange was 0.1 percent in the red. The index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzen lost 0.4 percent.
In Asian foreign exchange trading, the dollar gained 0.2 percent to 113.49 yen and rose 0.2 percent to 6.4381 yuan. In relation to the Swiss currency, it was quoted 0.1 percent lower at 0.9232 francs. At the same time, the euro remained almost unchanged at 1.1594 dollars and was quoted little changed at 1.0707 francs. The pound sterling gained 0.1 percent to $ 1.3668.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
More: US stock exchanges make up for losses – tech stocks in demand