People
commuting
to
work
in
the
morning
cross
a
pedestrian
crossing
in
Tokyo
on
February
15,
2024.
Kazuhiro
Nogi
|
AFP
|
Getty
Images
Asia-Pacific
markets
mostly
fell
as
of
Japan’s
corporate
inflation
climbed
in
March
and
rate
decisions
are
assessed
from
New
Zealand
and
Thailand’s
central
banks.
South
Korea’s
markets
are
closed
Wednesday,
as
the
country
heads
to
the
polls
to
elect
its
next
parliament.
Japan’s
corporate
inflation
rate
came
in
at
0.8%
for
March,
its
third
straight
month
of
increase
and
in
line
with
expectations
from
a
Reuters
poll
of
economists,
while
investors
also
brace
for
the
U.S.
consumer
price
index
report
later
Wednesday.
Separately,
the
Reserve
Bank
of
New
Zealand
held
its
benchmark
interest
rates
at
5.5%,
saying
that
“a
restrictive
monetary
policy
stance
remains
necessary
to
further
reduce
capacity
pressures
and
inflation.”
Japan’s
Nikkei
225
slipped
0.27%,
while
the
broad
based
Topix
was
down
0.17%.
Hong
Kong’s
Hang
Seng
index
climbed
1.32%,
while
mainland
China’s
CSI
300
was
down
0.38%.
In
Australia,
the S&P/ASX
200
is
on
pace
for
a
third
straight
day
of
gains,
climbing
0.52%.
Overnight
in
the
U.S.,
the
three
major
indexes
ended
mixed
ahead
of
the
CPI
report,
with
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
closing
just
below
the
flatline.
On
the
other
hand,
the
S&P
500
notched
a
gain
of
0.14%,
while
the
Nasdaq
Composite
added
0.32%.
—
CNBC’s
Hakyung
Kim
and
Brian
Evans
contributed
to
this
report.
