Gloomy growth figures out of China brought down the mood on the region’s trading floors though a cooling yen boosted sentiment in Japan

Traders were betting on China bouncing back from its Covid nightmare this year but a soaring yen is ramping up the pressure in Japan

Investor mood was lifted by positive inflation news from the US, hinting at a slowdown in interest rate hikes, but a surging yen dragged on the Nikkei

Traders are banking on a cooling in US prices which will see the US Fed slow down its rate hikes charge

Investor optimism over China’s post-Covid bounceback was dampened by the reality of the gloomy global outlook and a hawkish Fed

Investors were encouraged by China’s curbs rollback and signs inflation is cooling in the US which could see a slowdown in rate hikes

The Nikkei and Shanghai indexes rallied on optimism over an economic fightback in China while the Hang Seng was hit by profit-taking

Investors are looking beyond China’s current Covid woes and betting on a post-pandemic economic recovery

Investors were pulled in both directions on Wednesday with worries over more US interest rate hikes balanced off by hopes of a post-Covid China recovery

Investors were upbeat about China’s long-term prospects, banking on it emerging stronger after seeing out the current wave of virus infections

The region’s indexes advanced off the back of positive US inflation data though China’s Covid woes continued to weigh

Worries over another surge in US inflation dampened the mood across the region’s trading floors before the Christmas break