Asia opens mostly mixed

Asian stock indices opened the fifth session of the week mixed with Japan, Australia and South Korea down, while China, New Zealand, and Hong Kong gave up ground amid concerns that vaccinations are going slower than expected. 

From Japan, consumer prices fell 0.5%, compared to a 1.3% drop in December, while core prices fell 0.4%. 

Japan's unemployment rate steadied at 2.9% in December, while industrial production fell 1.6% in December, compared to a 0.5% drop in November. 

Japan's housing starts fell 9% in December, while the consumer confidence survey fell to minus 29.6 in January. 

From Australia, producer prices rose 0.5% in the fourth quarter, beating estimates of a 0.1% rise. 

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.07% to 1,837, while Nikkei 225 fell 0.18% to 28,145. 

China's CSI 300 rose 0.56%, while Shanghai rose 0.22% to 3,513. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.39%, while South Korea's KOSPI fell 1.77% to 3,014. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 0.32%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.22% to 6,634.