Asia-Pacific markets mixed as investors assess India rate cut, Japan spending data

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday as investors assessed India’s interest rate decision and Japan’s household spending data.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded flat.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.44% and the Topix traded 0.39% lower. The country’s household spending in December rose 2.7% year on year in real terms, sharply beat Reuters’ expectations of a 0.2% rise.

South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.17%, while the small-cap Kosdaq traded around the flatline.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.6%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.77%.

The Reserve Bank of India has cut its key interest rate for the first time in nearly five years, as cooling inflation has offered room to stimulate the slowing economy.

India’s benchmark stock indexes the Nifty 50 and Sensex traded around the flatline. The Indian rupee, which has weakened to an all-time low, strengthened slightly to 87.4 against the greenback.

The Monetary Policy Committee decided to trim the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in a livestreamed address Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India is likely to trim the benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, as it concludes its policy meeting later in the day.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages closed higher. The S&P 500 climbed for a third straight session on Thursday as investors weighed the latest batch of corporate earnings.

The broad market index added 0.36% to 6,083.57, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.51% to 19,791.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, lost 125.65 points, or 0.28%, and closed at 44,747.63.

Wall Street is now awaiting January’s jobs report, which is scheduled for release on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones are forecasting nonfarm payrolls growth of 169,000 for the month, less than the 256,000 jobs added in December.

—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.