Australia job numbers, Hong Kong industrial output

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher Wednesday, following gains on Wall Street that saw the Nasdaq Composite surge to record highs after November’s inflation report met expectations.

Traders in Asia assessed jobs data from Australia, which showed the country’s unemployment rate fell to an 8-month low of 3.9% in November, dropping from 4.1% the month prior. A poll of economists from Reuters had expected the rate to rise to 4.2%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.28% to close at 8,330.3.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.21% in trading to reach 39,849.14, while the Topix climbed 1% to 2,773.03.

South Korea’s Kospi index was up 1.62% to 2,482.12, while the small-cap Kosdaq was up 1.1% to 683.35 as investors shrugged off political turmoil in the country.

On Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he had no intention to resign from office despite pressure from the public and opposition parties following his brief martial law declaration last week.

China’s CSI 300 was up 0.9%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.2% as investors awaited the city’s industrial production data for the third quarter, which will be released later in the day.

In the U.S. on Wednesday, relatively tame inflation data fueled hopes for an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.77% to end at 20,034.89 and post an all-time high and a closing record.

The broad market S&P 500 gained 0.82% to close at 6,084.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, falling 99.27 points, or 0.22%, to 44,148.56.

Nvidia rose more than 3%, while Tesla advanced nearly 6%, alongside a broader rise in several major companies.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Alex Harring contributed to this report.