Asia markets live: Asia-Pacific markets mostly fall

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly down Wednesday after key Wall Street benchmarks rose overnight, with the Nasdaq Composite closing at a record high as tech stocks gained.

Traders in Asia assessed consumer price data out of Australia, with headline inflation for the September quarter rising 2.8% year on year, the lowest since the first quarter of 2021. Economists polled by Reuters had expected it to be at 2.9%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day down 0.83% to reach 8,180.4.

China is considering approving next week over 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in extra debt to stimulate its economy over the next few years, Reuters reported. The fiscal package is expected to be increased if Donald Trump wins the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the report added.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.65% at 20,358 as of its final hour of trading. China’s CSI 300 closed 0.90% lower to end at 3,889.45.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.96% to end the day at 39,277.39. Meanwhile, the Topix advanced 0.81% to close at 2,703.72.

The Bank of Japan kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting the central bank to keep interest rates steady at 0.25%.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.92% to 2,593.79, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 0.80% to 738.19.

In the U.S., the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.78% to close at a record high of 18,712.75.

The S&P 500 added 0.16% to close at 5,832.92, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154.52 points, or 0.36%, to end at 42,233.05.

— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Alex Harring contributed to this report.