SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific slipped in Tuesday morning trade, as investors continue monitoring developments surrounding the Covid situation in mainland China.
U.S. inflation data is also expected to be out later Tuesday stateside and could provide more clues on the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.84% as shares of robot maker Fanuc dropped more than 3%. The Topix index dipped 0.51%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.36%.
Australian stocks also declined, with the S&P/ASX 200 trading fractionally lower.
Very high US inflation will keep alive market expectations for aggressive FOMC tightening in our view.
Carol Kong
Senior associate for currency strategy and international economics, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 413.04 points to 34,308.08 while the S&P 500 slipped 1.69% to 4,412.53. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged, dropping 2.18% to 13,411.96.
The U.S. consumer price index for March is set to be released during ET time Tuesday, with the White House warning that it expects the report to show inflation that is “extraordinarily elevated.” Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the data to show an 8.4% annual increase in prices, the highest since December 1981.
“Very high US inflation will keep alive market expectations for aggressive FOMC tightening in our view,” said Carol Kong, senior associate for currency strategy and international economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“We expect the FOMC will respond to strong underlying inflation by increasing the Funds rate by 50bp in May and in June,” Kong said.
Dollar index tops 100 level
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 100.037 — once again crossing the 100 level.
The Japanese yen traded at 125.53 per dollar following yesterday’s weakening from below 125 against the greenback. The Australian dollar was at $0.7415, lower than levels above $0.744 seen yesterday.