Nikkei, Yen, Hang Seng: Asiens Börsen notieren vor US-Notenbankertreffen uneinheitlich

Asian stock markets displayed a mixed direction on Friday, prior to the highly anticipated speech of the US Federal Reserve Chair, with most showing slight gains. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.8% to 66,683 points, while the broader Topix gained 0.9% at 4,152 traders. The Shanghai Composite index increased by 0.1% to 3,962 points, and the CSI-300 index, comprising the 300 largest Chinese companies on the mainland exchanges, remained flat at 4,626 points.

The South Korean Kospi index declined by 1%. In Japan, inflation took center stage among investors after the core consumer prices in Tokyo rose by 1.8% in August, sparking expectations of an imminent rate increase by the Bank of Japan. Masato Koike, chief economist at the Sompo Institute Plus, said, "A renewed escalation in the Middle East conflict is expected to drive energy costs higher, leading to broader price increases."

In South Korea, recent hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) has waned, with the stocks of electronics giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among the day's losers, down by 2.26% and 1.45% respectively. Winners include Hyundai Motor and Kia, which gained 0.25% and 0.63% respectively. Investors are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve meeting in Jackson Hole on Friday, where a speech by Kevin Warsh, the head of the US Federal Reserve, is expected.

The Australian Bank ANZ analysts, in a note to customers, said, "Although we do not expect him to deliver a forecast, markets hope that he will help reduce some of the uncertainty about the Fed's response function."