Asia markets set to open mixed as investors await China economic data, assess Japan CPI

Asia-Pacific markets were set for a mixed open on Friday, as investors awaited key economic data from China and assessed Japan’s inflation numbers.

China is set to release its house prices index for September at 9:30 a.m. local time.

China’s third-quarter GDP is expected to come in at 4.5%, as estimated by economists in a Reuters poll, compared with 4.7% growth in the prior quarter.

For September, economists expect a mixed picture in China’s economy, with urban investment estimated to grow 3.3% year on year, slower than 3.4% in the prior month, while retail sales could rise 2.5% on year, faster growth than last month’s 2.1%, according to data from LSEG.

Industrial output is expected to expand 4.5% in September from a year ago.

Japan’s headline inflation for September came in at 2.5%, while core CPI rose 2.4% year on year compared with Reuters estimates of 2.3%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 appeared set for a stronger open, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,285 and their counterpart in Osaka at 39,180 against the index’s last close of 38,911.19.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 19,974, comapred with its previous close of 20,079.1.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day down 0.42%.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to a new record close after strong economic data eased lingering fears of a potential recession. The blue-chip index rose 161 points, or 0.37%, to 43,239.05.

The S&P 500 closed down 0.02% to settle at 5,841.47 after hitting an intraday record earlier in the session.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04% inched higher, as chipmakers rallied, to end at 18,373.61.

All three indexes are tracking for their sixth straight positive week.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.