BEIJING, CHINA – SEPTEMBER 4: Buildings and vehicles are visible in the central business district of Beijing, China, during rush hour on September 4, 2020.
Zhang Qiao|Visual China Group|Getty Images
Wall Street fell on Wednesday, with all three major stock indexes falling ahead of the release of key inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, while Asia-Pacific markets mostly opened higher on Wednesday.
South Korea’s unemployment rate was 2.2% in November Statistics Korea.
China will also hold its annual economic work conference on Wednesday to outline its economic policies for next year.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index opened down 0.27% on the day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures contract in Chicago opened at 39,400 points, while the Osaka Nikkei futures contract opened at 39,390 points, compared with the previous close of 39,367.58 points.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures were at 20,435 points, higher than the Hang Seng Index’s last closing point of 20,311.28 points.
Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the fourth consecutive day, falling 154.10 points, or 0.35%, to 44,247.83 points.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to close at 6,034.91 points; the Nasdaq fell 0.25% to close at 19,687.24 points. Both indexes fell for a second day in a row.
Investors are awaiting the U.S. consumer price index report for November released on Wednesday, which may influence interest rate trends at the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on December 17-18.
According to Dow Jones estimates, the closely watched economic index is expected to see the 12-month inflation rate rise slightly to 2.7%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month and above the Federal Reserve’s annual inflation target of 2%.
—CNBC’s Sean Sonlon and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
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