Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Wednesday, as markets in mainland China and Hong Kong struggled to recover from losses seen earlier in the week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index subtracted 73.42 points, or 0.3%, to 24,717.53.
The Japanese yen traded at 115.83 per U.S. dollar, weaker than levels below 115.2 seen against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index unloaded 138.16 points, or 0.7%, to 20,627.71.
Oil prices jumped to their session highs on Tuesday after President Joe Biden said the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, a further escalation in the international response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The United Kingdom also announced its own plans to phase out its reliance on Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7293, having declined from above $0.738 earlier this week.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 let go of 37.14 points, or 1.1%, to 3,256.39.
Official data released Wednesday showed China’s producer inflation rising in February, with the producer price index increasing 8.8% year-on-year for that month. The February data compared against January’s 9.1% on-year rise, and was close to expectations of analysts in a Reuters poll for a 8.7% gain.
Meanwhile, China’s consumer price index for February rose 0.9% as compared with a year ago, unchanged from the growth in January and inline with expectations from a Reuters poll.
In other markets,
Markets in South Korea were closed on Wednesday due to the country’s presidential election.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index forged ahead 46.52 points, or 1.5%, to 3,195.38.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index leaped 190.11 points, or 1.1%, to 17,015.36.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 40.18 points, or 0.3%, to 11,785.13.
In Australia, the ASX 200 picked up 72.71 points, or 1%, to 7,053.03.