Major Asia-Pacific indicators show no significant changes during today's trading. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.07%, while the Hang Seng Index was down by 0.04%. South Korea's KOSPI also slightly decreased by 0.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.57% and Japan's Nikkei 225 slightly increased by 0.4%.
Investors' attention is drawn to Chinese statistics. For example, industrial production in China rose by 3.8% in the previous month compared to the same period last year. This exceeded analysts' forecasts, which predicted an increase of 3.6%. In October, however, growth was 3.5%. At the same time, retail sales gained 3.9% in November, while in October sales fell by 4.9%. Analysts predicted an increase of 4.6%.
Another reason for investors' calm is that all investors, including in the Asian stock markets, are waiting for the results of today's US Federal Reserve meeting. Later this week there will be meetings of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. Investors are not acting because they believe that the Fed will decide to tighten monetary policy. They think it will definitely affect stock markets by reducing the flow of liquid assets.
Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. shares gained 2.7%, while Xiaomi Corp. lost 1.4%. Tencent Holdings, Ltd. dropped by 0.4%.
Shares in Japan's SoftBank Group and Sony Group Corp. rose by 1.9%.
Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. surged by 0.3% and 1.2%, respectively. LG Corp. also gained 1.1%. Kia Corp. shares fell by 0.9%.
Following the Australian decline, shares of Fortescue Metal Group plunged by 0.3%. BHP Group, Ltd. lost 0.5%, while Rio Tinto, Ltd. added 0.2%.