Asia-Pacific markets mixed as IMF raises global economic growth forecast

SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Wednesday trade as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its growth forecast for the global economy this year.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.31% while the Topix index gained 0.46%. South Korea's Kospi slipped fractionally.

Mainland Chinese stocks were lower by the afternoon: The Shanghai composite dipped slightly while the Shenzhen component declined fractionally. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.21%, with shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba rising 3.31%.

China's industrial profits rose 4.1% year-on-year in 2020, the country's National Bureau of Statistics announced Wednesday. For December, industrial profits in China soared 20.1% year-on-year.

Shares in Australia dipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 declining 0.66%. Australia's consumer price index rose 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in the December quarter, according to data released by the country's Bureau of Statistics.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.29%.

In its latest World Economic Outlook published Tuesday, the IMF now expects the global economy to grow 5.5% this year. That's a 0.3 percentage point increase from October's forecasts.

"Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens," the IMF's Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said in a blog post.

Global coronavirus virus infections recently topped the 100 million mark, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. That comes as new and more contagious virus mutations circulate and send infection rates surging.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.239 following an earlier low of 90.153.

The Japanese yen traded at 103.74 per dollar, weaker than levels below 103.5 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7734 after rising from levels around $0.768 yesterday.

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up about 0.4% to $56.15 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.48% to $52.86 per barrel.

— CNBC's Silvia Amaro and Sara Salinas contributed to this report.

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