The upscale shopping district of Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, May 4, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets are set to open lower on Wednesday, despite gains on Wall Street ahead of the U.S. August consumer inflation report due Wednesday.
Traders in Asia parsed key economic data from Japan and South Korea. South Korea reported that unemployment fell to 2.4% in August, the lowest level since 1999, when the data series commenced, according to Statistics Korea.
A Reuters Tankan survey, a monthly poll that tracks business sentiment in Japan, showed that business confidence in big manufacturers dipped to plus 4 in September, a seven-month low, from plus 10 in August. The sentiment for non-manufacturers declined for a third consecutive month to plus 23, from plus 24.
Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris are set to meet for the first time for the presidential debate, their only face-off ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.
The Federal Trade Commission sent Seven & i a notice that it may probe its potential deal with Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing two sources. Seven & i recently rejected Couch-Tard’s proposal, partially over U.S. antitrust concerns.
Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 8,014, lower than its last close of 8,011.9.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a lower open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 36,110 and its counterpart in Osaka at 36,100 compared to the previous close of 36150.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 17,072, lower than the HSI’s last close of 17,190.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks wavered through Tuesday’s trading session, with two of the three major U.S. indexes ending in the green, as traders are betting that a widely anticipated interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve September meeting would assuage concerns over a weakening economy.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.45% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.84%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.23%.
—CNBC’s Brian Evans and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
