- The U.S. consumer price index for May, set to be reported at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday, is expected to show headline inflation at 4.7% — the fastest pace since 2008.
- Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined more than 150 points, marking its third down session in a row.
SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific mostly rose on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to an upcoming release of U.S. inflation data for May.
The Shenzhen component in mainland China jumped 1.19% to close at 14,893.59, while the Shanghai composite gained 0.54% to finish the trading day at 3,610.86. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped about 0.1%, as of its final hour of trading.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed 0.34% higher at 28,958.56 while the Topix index finished the trading day little changed at 1,956.73. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.26% to close at 3,224.64.
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Shares in Australia nudged higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.44% to close at 7,302.50.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.38%.
U.S. inflation data ahead
Money Report
Overnight stateside, the Dow dropped 152.68 points to 34,447.14 — its third straight day of losses — while the S&P 500 slipped 0.18% to 4,219.55. The Nasdaq Composite declined roughly 0.1% to 13,911.75.
Those moves came ahead of U.S. consumer inflation data. The U.S. consumer price index for May, set to be reported at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday, is expected to show headline inflation at 4.7% — the fastest pace since 2008.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.235 after recently bouncing from below the 90 level.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.50 per dollar, weaker than levels around 109.2 against the greenback seen earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7731, having seen a recent drop from about $0.776.
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.5% to $71.86 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.47% to $69.63 per barrel.
