Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, as markets watched for key inflation data likely to influence the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates.
TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, as markets watched for key inflation data likely to influence the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 NIK rose 0.6% in early trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO added 0.6% while South Korea’s Kospi 180721 edged up 0.2%. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 SPX had its smallest one-day move in more than a year, slipping 0.17 points, or less than 0.1%, to 4,108.94. Most of the stocks in the index rose, as did the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA , which gained 0.3% to 33,684.79. The Nasdaq composite COMP slipped 0.4% to 12,031.88.
A higher reading than expected would likely raise expectations the Fed will raise rates by another quarter of a percentage point at its next meeting in May. Higher rates can undercut inflation, but in slowing the economy they raise the risk of a recession and hurt prices for stocks and other investments.
Still-high inflation is one of the reasons analysts expect this upcoming earnings reporting season to show the worst drop since the depths of the pandemic in 2020. A bunch of banks will help kick off the earnings reporting season when they tell investors on Friday how much they earned during the first three months of the year.
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