By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly up on Thursday morning, with investors digesting surprisingly poor  and the hottest U.S. inflation print in three decades.

Japan’s rose 0.73% by 9:09 PM ET (2:09 AM GMT), while South Korea’s was down 0.31%.

Australia saw a drop of 0.84%. Australian employment data was released earlier in day and showed that 46,300 people were affected by the contraction, while 40,400 reported that they had been contracted in October. It rose to 5.2%.

Hong Kong’s was up 0.25%.

China’s gained 0.46% while the was up 0.42%.

The consumer price index, or CPI as it was called on Wednesday, grew by 6.2% to 0.9%. In October, the core CPI grew 4.6% while 0.6% was recorded. Producer price index (PPI), meanwhile, grew by 0.6% and 8.6% in October. Month-on-month, the grew 0.4%.

China’s high inflation remains a problem. The CPI rose 0.7% in October, according to data released Wednesday. Year-over-year, the CPI grew 13.5%

Inflation that is higher than expected has led to expectations of central banks raising interest rates. Data from the U.S. as well as China have shown that inflationary pressures can be short-lived. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated Tuesday her opinion that high inflation would not continue beyond 2022 and that the U.S. Federal Reserve was going to work to avoid a repeat 1970s level inflation.

Some investors believe that the Fed may raise rates after it has completed asset tapering by mid-2022.

“This is the perfect time to gravitate toward defensive plays, to take profit, and to be in the sectors that are strategically positioned toward this volatile market that presents a lot of challenges,” Morgan Stanley Bloomberg reports that Katerina Simonetti is the senior vice president of Private Wealth Management.

Investors also continued to be concerned that China’s economic recovery from COVID-19 is showing signs of slowing down. China Evergrande Group avoided default by paying three outstanding interest payments on U.S. dollars bonds.

The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee will wrap up its meeting on Thursday and is expected to open the way for an unprecedented third term for President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, China’s annual Singles Day shopping festival takes place on Thursday.