Asia stocks end mixed amid economic data

August 29, 2025 (MLN): Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Friday, breaking ranks with Wall Street as investors assessed a slate of economic data in the region.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.41%, while the Topix lost 0.39% after core consumer prices in Tokyo rose at a slower pace in August.

The Tokyo core CPI, which strips out fresh food but includes energy, climbed 2.5% from a year earlier, matching Reuters’ economists’ forecasts and easing from July’s 2.9% increase.

The figure, however, remained above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target, as CNBC reported.

Japan’s unemployment rate also eased to 2.3% in July, down from 2.5% the previous month.

South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.22% while the Kosdaq Index slipped 0.27% after South Korea’s ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee was reportedly indicted over corruption and bribery charges.

Kim is the wife of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office and arrested earlier this year for his short-lived declaration of martial law.

The South Korean won weakened 0.15% to 1,387.38 against the dollar.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.14%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.51%, while mainland’s CSI 300 rose 0.13%.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to meet China’s President Xi Jinping for the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit over the weekend in Tianjin, marking Modi’s first visit to China in seven years.

New Delhi and Beijing could engage in talks in Tianjin, as India’s foreign ministry has flagged the possibility of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages closed higher.

The S&P 500 index finished 0.32% higher at 6,501.86 after hitting a new all-time intraday high above the 6,500 level.

The Nasdaq Composite ended the day up 0.53% at 21,705.16, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71.67 points, or 0.16%, to end at 45,636.90, also a record.

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