Asia-Pacific markets close mixed as investors await key policy meeting in China

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday, after major Wall Street benchmarks declined ahead of key inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. China is reportedly kicking off its annual economic work conference on Wednesday to outline its economic policies and growth targets for next year. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index reversed gains to trade 0.76% lower as of its final hour, while mainland China’s CSI 300 index was 0.17% down and closed at 3,988.83. In South Korea, the blue-chip Kospi jumped 1.02% and finished at 2,442.51 and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 2.17% to 675.92, a day after the country’s parliament passed a downsized budget of 673.3 trillion won ($470.60 billion) for 2025 late yesterday. This is reportedly the first time that a spending bill had been trimmed down without consent from government ministries. On Wednesday, South Korea’s corruption investigation office for high-ranking officials reportedly said it would seek the detention and arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol if conditions are met. This comes after media reports emerged that police had raided the presidential office as part of an investigation into Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law. South Korea also reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.7% in November, according to Statistics Korea, unchanged from the previous month. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose marginally to 39,372.23, while the broad-based Topix was up 0.29% and closed at 2,749.31. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.47% lower, ending at 8,353.6.