The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Kosuke Okahara/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Asia-Pacific stock markets opened flat Wednesday as investors awaited key U.S. inflation and China data later this week, while the interest rate decision from New Zealand was also on tap.
China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index reading and U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index â the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric â is due Thursday.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to hold its official cash rate at 5.50% later in the day, keeping it at a 15-year high. The earliest rate cut by the central bank is expected to be in July.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell about 0.2% each ahead of the RBNZ decision.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 as well as the broader Topix opened flat.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1%, while the smaller-cap Kosdaq added 1.3%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,855, pointing to a higher open compared to the HSI’s close of 16,790.80.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended Tuesday with small gains as investors awaited key inflation data to be released later this week.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.17%, while the Nasdaq added 0.37%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.82 points, or 0.25%.
â CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Alex Harring contributed to this report