Asian stocks mixed on Chinese data

S&P 500 hits new 2023 high, while Asian markets were mixed and China’s producer price index fell. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after the S&P 500 hit a new 2023 high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a third straight gain. The focus next week will be on the Fed’s policy meeting on June 13 and 14, particularly after jobless claims hit their highest level since October 2021, a potential sign that the labor market is softening in more than a year. Investors digested China’s consumer price index, which rose 0.2 percent in May, and producer prices, which fell 4.6 percent annually, the sharpest decline since May 2016. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.19 percent, breaking a recent rally. Mainland Chinese markets also fell after the CPI release, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 0.11 percent and the Shenzhen Component Index down 0.15 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.61 percent, paring some of its losses from the past two days, while the Topix gained 1.25 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.96 percent and the Kosdaq rose 1.01 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.35 percent. Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rose, with the Nasdaq Composite leading gains and up 1.02 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.62 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 percent.