Customers buy vegetables in a supermarket in Nanjing, China.
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Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall on Thursday as U.S. stocks closed slightly higher amid volatility as the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting indicated that interest rates are likely to remain higher for longer due to sticky inflation.
Asian investors are also awaiting December inflation data from China. Economists polled by Reuters expect consumer price growth to remain near zero, while producer prices are expected to fall.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index The Chicago futures contract was at 39,950 and the Osaka futures contract last traded at 39,950, compared with the index’s previous closing price of 39,981.06.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index It fell slightly by 0.32%.
In comparison, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures were last at 19,264 points, opening lower than the Hang Seng Index’s closing point of 19,279.84 points.
In the United States overnight, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed that most committee members believed that inflation risks had increased.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield briefly exceeded 4.7%, and the outlook for inflation heightened investor concerns that the Federal Reserve may slow down policy easing this year.
The broader market index rose 0.16% to close at 5,918.25 points; the Dow Jones index rose 0.25% to close at 42,635.20 points. The Nasdaq was little changed at 19,478.88.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
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