The city skyline of Lujiazui Shanghai Center in China, on March 13, 2024.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mostly higher Wednesday ahead of key August inflation data from China.
The mainland’s August consumer price index is expected to fall 0.2% from the previous year, according to economists polled by Reuters, and compares with July’s flat reading. Meanwhile, the producer price index is expected to fall 2.9% year on year, improving from the 3.6% drop in July.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark was set to open slightly higher with the futures contract in Chicago at 43,470, and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 43,460, against the index’s Tuesday close of 43,459.29.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was poised to trade flat, with the futures contract at 8,803, compared with the index’s close of 8,803.5.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was set to open higher, with the futures contract trading at 25,957, against the index’s last close at 25,938.13.
South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 2.6% year on year in August compared with July’s 2.5%.
U.S. equity futures rose slightly in early Asian hours, as traders looked ahead to the release of the latest producer price index Wednesday stateside and the consumer price index data on Thursday, which will offer more insight into the impact of inflation on the economy.
Overnight, all three key benchmarks in the U.S. closed at all-time highs as investors moved past concerns about disappointing jobs data and bet on Federal Reserve rate cuts.
The S&P 500 index settled up 0.27% at 6,512.61, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.37% to end the day at 21,879.49, with the latter hitting a new all-time intraday high as well. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 196.39 points, or 0.43%, at 45,711.34, thanks to a surge in UnitedHealth shares.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
