Major stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region traded mostly lower during the afternoon session on Friday after the People's Bank of China (PBoC) decided not to cut its key interest rates earlier in the day. Investors also digested the recent report by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, which showed that inflation in the country increased to 2.9% in November.
Japan's Nikkei was down 0.23% at 7:11 am CET, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng decreased by 0.08%. At the same time, South Korea's Kospi declined by 1.63%. Australia's S7P/ASX 200 dropped by 1.24% at the close. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.16% at 7:14 am CET, while the Shenzhen Composite increased by 0.25% a minute later.
The dollar traded 0.23% lower than the yen at 7:16 am CET, selling for ¥156.9725.
