Australia inflation, semiconductor stocks jump

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday as Australia’s inflation rate climbed for a third straight month, while semiconductor and related stocks jumped after Nvidia rallied overnight.

Australia’s headline inflation rate for May came in at 4%, compared with the 3.6% recorded in April. The core inflation rate also came in at 4%, higher than the 3.8% expected by a Reuters poll of economists.

A higher-than-expected inflation reading could spur the RBA to raise interest rates. RBA Governor Michelle Bullock recently revealed the central bank discussed hiking rates at its last meeting.

Singapore’s May factory output will also be released Wednesday, with a Reuters poll of economists predicting a 2% year-on-year growth rate, as compared to a 1.6% decline recorded in April.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.03% Wednesday, dragged by non-energy minerals and retail trade stocks.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.26% in morning trade, while the broad-based Topix was up 0.64%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.25%, while the small-cap Kosdaq traded close to the flatline.

Semiconductor and related stocks such as Advantest jumped more than 6%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, SK Hynix and MediaTek increased 1.38%, 4% and 3.25%, respectively. Samsung Electronics was down more than 0.2%.

This comes on the back of a rebound in Nvidia shares which closed 6.76% higher on Tuesday.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index and the mainland China’s CSI 300 were both down marginally.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined, shedding 0.76% and closing at 39,112.16. Led by an Nvidia rebound, the broad market S&P 500 added 0.39% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.26%, with both indexes ending three-day losing streaks.

— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.