Asian markets mixed after subdued pre-holiday shift on Wall St

Asian markets diverged Thursday as investors brushed off a negative lead from Wall Street while welcoming a drop in Treasury yields and data showing US inflation was holding steady.

With the United States heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, business in New York was subdued after a flurry of activity since Donald Trump's election at the start of the month.

That has allowed Asian traders to take a breather and digest recent developments as the president-elect builds a hawkish cabinet that looks set to renew his hardball approach to world trade, having already flagged tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico.

Data out of Washington on Wednesday showed the personal consumption expenditures index -- the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation -- edged up to 2.3 percent on-year in October

The figure was up from 2.1 percent the previous month and in line with forecasts, while slightly above the Federal Reserve's long-term two percent target for price rises.

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While the Fed appears to be getting a handle on inflation and the labour market is softening, investors have started to scale back their bets on how many rate cuts the central bank will make as they try to assess the impact of Trump's plans to cut taxes and impose tariffs.

Futures markets currently place the odds at about two-thirds that officials will lower rates again in December by 25 basis points.

Still, all three main Wall Street indexes ended in the red, with the Dow and S&P 500 pulling back from record highs as investors shifted to the sidelines ahead of the festive break.

Treasury yields slipped, weighing on the dollar Wednesday, though the greenback edged back slightly in Asian trade.

Equity markets were mixed in early exchanges, with Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore all rising and Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta taking a leg down. Seoul was flat as investors shrugged at a second successive interest rate cut by South Korea's central bank.

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Hong Kong and Shanghai edged down as dealers turned an eye to Beijing amid speculation authorities will announce fresh stimulus measures at a key meeting expected next month.

However, analysts pointed out that hopes ahead of previous gatherings have largely been dashed by measures that fell short.

"China's economy remains unbalanced as a solid export base for goods production is offset by the continued weakness of the property market and weak consumer spending," Steven Cochrane, chief Asia Pacific economist at Moody’s Analytics, said.

He added that "consumer confidence remains shattered, particularly regarding expectations for the labour market".

While Beijing has introduced a raft of policies to boost growth -- including interest rate cuts and measures to support the property sector -- Cochrane said that "most issues weighing on the economy have not yet been resolved".

And he warned: "The risks are rising for China as the incoming Trump administration threatens to impose tariffs."

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In the crypto sphere, bitcoin was hovering around $96,500, having bounced back from just below $90,300 earlier in the week following its worst run since Trump's electoral success.

Still, it is widely tipped to top $100,000 on hopes the new president will try to ease restrictions on the digital currency market.

Key figures around 0230 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 38,295.13 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 19,390.65

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,308.21

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0549 from $1.0565 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2666 from $1.2678

Dollar/yen: UP at 151.71 yen from 151.17 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.28 pence from 83.33 pence

West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $68.72 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $72.83 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,722.06 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,274.75 (close)

Source: AFP