Crowds walk through Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Japan.
@ Didier Marti | Moment | Getty Images
Australian and Japanese markets are set to fall Wednesday as investors brace for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate decision, due early Thursday in Asia.
Investors will also keep an eye on the yen, which saw a volatile start to the week amid suspected intervention on Monday.
Most Asian markets are closed on Wednesday due to the Labor Day holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 is set for a weaker open, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,105 and it counterpart in Osaka at 38,090 against the index’s last close of 38,405.66.
Futures for the Australian S&P/ASX 200 stood at 7,593, forecasting a weaker open compared to the last close of 7,664.1.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell after higher-than-expected wage data raised fresh inflation concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
The Labor Department said Tuesday the employment cost index, a measure of wages and benefits, rose 1.2% in the first quarter, above the 1% consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones. Treasury yields jumped following the data, with the 2-year yield topping 5%.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.57%, while The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.49%. The Nasdaq Composite shed 2.04% to 15,657.82.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed to this report.