The city skyline of Lujiazui Shanghai Center in China, on March 13, 2024.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened 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 opened 0.2% higher, while the Topix index was flat.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 opened flat.
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 Kospi index climbed 0.76% in early trade, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.71%. The country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 2.6% in August compared with July’s 2.5%, according to government data.
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.
