Asia markets rise after Wall Street gains on tame inflation data; Aussie jobless rate drops to 8-month low

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose 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% to close at 39,849.14, while the Topix climbed 0.86% to 2,773.03.

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

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

Following the statements, the leader of Yoon's ruling People Power Party (PPP) threw his support behind a plan for a second parliamentary vote to impeach the President, according to local media. The first impeachment failed to pass after most ruling party members boycotted the vote.

China's CSI 300 rose 0.99% to close at 4,028.5. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.28% at 020,415 as of its final hour of trade ahead of the city's third quarter industrial production data, 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.

Nissan finance chief to head China business; Honda breaks partnership with GM

Shares of Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda were trading lower on news of corporate shake-ups amid tight competition in the global vehicle market.

Nissan fell 1.6%, a day after it announced that its chief financial officer Stephen Ma will take over the company's China business at the start of 2025, as the carmaker plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide. Nissan Americas Chairperson Jeremie Papin will step in as the new finance chief.

Honda fell 0.4% on reports that it would end a self-driving vehicle partnership with General Motors after the U.S. automaker abandoned plans to enter the autonomous robotaxi market.

The broader Nikkei 225 stock index was trading up 1.3%.

— Dylan Butts

Most Japan firms expect Trump presidency to harm business environment: Reuters survey

A majority of Japanese companies expect the incoming U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's next term to have a negative impact on their business environment, according to a Reuters survey.

The poll found that 73% of respondents expect negative impact on their business, citing planned tariff hikes and U.S.-China trade tensions as causes of concern. Trump has threatened imposing tariffs in excess of 60% on imports of Chinese goods.

Meanwhile, the rest expected a positive impact from Trump's presidency, citing an expected expansion of U.S. domestic demand through tax cuts and likely revisions to energy and environmental policies.

— Dylan Butts

CNBC Pro: Analysts have hiked price targets on these 5 stocks ahead of earnings next month

Analysts have hiked price targets on these 5 stocks ahead of earnings next month

At least ten Wall Street analysts have turned bullish on four of those five stocks ahead of their quarterly earnings reports.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

S&P 500 moves in line with historical trends for post-CPI trading, data shows

Wednesday's S&P 500 rally on the back of the consumer price index is tracking to be nearly in line with historical standards, data shows.

The broad index is trading about 0.92% higher just before 1:30 p.m. ET. Since 2000, the S&P 500 has risen 0.86% on the average trading day following the release of CPI data, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

"Back in late 2022 and early 2023, the monthly release of CPI was to the market what The Eras Tour was to Swifties," Bespoke wrote in a post on social media site X, referencing Taylor Swift's recently concluded tour. "It was an event. Not so much anymore."

CPI data for November released Wednesday morning came in line with economists' expectations.

— Alex Harring

19 stocks hit new 52-week highs

Nineteen stocks in the S&P 500 hit fresh 52-week highs during Wednesday's session.

Among them, 12 notched new all-time highs. Here are some of those names that reached that milestone:

• Alphabet trading all-time highs back to its initial public offering on Aug. 19, 2004
• Meta Platforms trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in May 2012
• Netflix trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in May 2002
• Amazon trading at all-time-high levels since back to its IPO in May 1997
• Deckers Outdoor trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in October 1993
• Costco trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in December 1985
• Apple trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in December 1980
• ServiceNow trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in June 2012

Meanwhile, a few names, including CVS Health, hit new 52-week lows in the session. Shares of the company were trading at lows not seen since March 2020.

— Sean Conlon, Christopher Hayes

CPI report for November comes in line with expectations

Inflation rose slightly in November, matching expectations.

The consumer price index rose 0.3% month over month and 2.7% year on year for November. That is in line with what economists polled by Dow Jones anticipated.

Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, increased 0.3% month over month. Year over year, it advanced 3.3%. Both matched expectations.

— Fred Imbert