Tokyo CPI, China industrial profit

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday, as some markets return from the Boxing Day holiday and investors assessed economic data from the region.

China’s industrial profits extended declines to a fourth straight month, dropping 7.3% in November from a year earlier, signaling that Beijing’s stimulus measures have yet to meaningfully stem the slide in corporate earnings. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.23% while mainland China’s CSI 300 slid 0.3%.

Investors assessed November inflation numbers from Japan’s capital of Tokyo, which saw its headline inflation rate come in at 3%, compared to 2.6% in October. Core inflation, which excludes costs of fresh food, rose to 2.4% missing Reuters’ expectations of a 2.5% rise. Tokyo’s inflation numbers are widely considered to be a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

Separately, Japan’s cabinet approved a historic budget of $732 billion for the fiscal year beginning in April, while restricting new bond issuance to its lowest level in 17 years, Reuters reported. The approved budget is 2.6% larger than the current year’s budget.

Japan’s jobless rate for the month of November came in at 2.5%, in line with Reuters’ estimates and unchanged from October.

The Nikkei 225 rose 1.12%, while the Topix added 0.9%.

South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.11% while the Kosdaq traded 0.78% lower.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.68% as trading resumed after Christmas and Boxing Day holidays.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased earlier losses and squeezed out a small gain in thin trading Thursday after the market’s strong back-to-back gains at the start of the holiday week.

The blue-chip Dow closed the day 28.77 points, or 0.07%, higher to 43,325.80 after losing about 182 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 dipped 2.45 points, or 0.04%, to 6,037.59. The Nasdaq Composite also ended the day lower, falling less than 0.1% to 20,020.36. 

—CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this report.