Asia-Pacific markets fell on Wednesday as investors look ahead to U.S. inflation figures for clues on the path ahead for inflation and by extension, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s moves.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 docked 120.64 points, or 0.4%, to 29,122.18. Mitsubishi Corp posted record earnings for a second-straight year, with net profit coming in above one trillion yen for the first time at 1.18 trillion yen ($8.72 billion U.S.).
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave back 105.38 points, or 0.5%, to 19,762.20.
Korean markets were in the red even as the country saw its unemployment rate inch down to 2.6% in April.
Australian markets lost some oomph, after the country delivered its budget Tuesday night. Australia saw its first budget surplus since 2008.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 index backtracked 31.01 points, or 0.8%, to 3,996.87.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index doffed 0.66 points to 3,242.29.
In Korea, the Kospi fell 13.55 points, or 0.5%, to 2,496.51.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index lost 85.94 points, or 0.6%, to 15,641.76.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 jumped 97.69 points, or 0.8%, to 11,987.30.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 8.35 points, or 0.1%, to 7,255.74.
