Asian equity markets were mostly lower on Thursday after China's annual consumer inflation hit a seven-month low in December.
Chinese consumer inflation from November's 3 percent figure, coming in below Reuters expectations for a 2.7 percent gain, while producer prices fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier.
"The market seems to have taken the falls [in Chinese inflation] in their stride, although it gives the PBOC room to maneuvered. The major issue and the conundrum authorities face here is how they support inflation without boosting credit supply," said Chris Weston, market strategist at IG in a note.
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Fed minutes, US jobs in focus
Wall Street shares finished mixed on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting revealed that most officials saw a decrease in monthly asset purchases as a cautious first step towards normalizing monetary policy after a long period of quantitative easing.
(Read more: Dream run in US stocks set to end: HSBC)
