Tokyo Nikkei 225 up 0.61%, S&P ASX 200 down 0.16% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Tokyo , 10 Jul - Asian shares closed mostly lower after yesterday's gains as investors digested mixed inflation data from China and Japan.

Japanese producer prices picked up slightly in June, with the year-on-year rate rising to 2.9%, but grew month-on-month less than expected at 0.2%.

China's consumer prices grew for a fifth month in June, rising by 0.2% in June from a year ago, but missed expectations for a 0.4% increase, while producer prices fell by 0.8% year-on-year in June, the 20th consecutive monthly decline. Economists were expecting a 1.4% drop.

Traders now await a speech by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell later today and the US consumer price index reading due tomorrow to assess the Fed's interest rate path, amid growing bets on lower US interest rates.

Powell yesterday took a dovish stance, signalling caution over leaving interest rates too high and saying that 'reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.' On the policy front, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said that its Monetary Policy Committee agreed to hold the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 5.50%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.11%, hovering at a more than two-year high after climbing for a fifth straight month in June, when it rose more than 3%, its best performance since February. The regional index was up 7% so far in 2024, hovering at its highest level since April 2022.

Japan's Nikkei index climbed to new all-time highs. Tokyo stocks extended a recent rally on foreign buying on a weak yen, and as recent data pointing to a weaker economy seemed to ease pressure on the Bank of Japan to increase interest rates.

The Nikkei index closed up 0.61% at 41,831 points, in Sydney the S&P ASX 200 closed down 0.16% at 7,816 points, while in Seoul the KOSPI closed up 0.02% at 2,867 points.

The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.71% at 2,937 points and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index was down 0.26% at 17,477 points. In Mumbai the Sensex index slid 0.84% to 79,680 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 10-07-24 09:01:22 (0166) 5 NNNN