Asia markets set for mixed open as investors assess China inflation data, await Japan GDP print

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower on Monday as investors assessed China’s stronger-than-expected April inflation data.

China’s consumer price index climbed 0.3% year on year, beating Reuters estimates of a 0.2% rise.

The producer price index, however, fell 2.5% year on year, more than the estimated 2.3% drop.

The data highlight for the week will be Japan’s first-quarter gross domestic product, expected to be 0.4% lower compared with the last quarter of 2023.

India’s inflation figures will also be out late Monday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting inflation in the world’s fifth largest economy to slow slightly to 4.8% in April, down from March’s 4.85%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 could go either way based off futures data, with the contract in Chicago at 38,240 and its counterpart in Osaka both at 38,210 against the index’s last close of 38,229.11

Futures for the S&P/ASX 200 point to a stronger open at 7,765 compared with their last close of 7,749.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,925, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 18,963.68.

On Friday in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched an eighth consecutive winning session and registered its best week of 2024. The 30-stock index added 0.32% during the session.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.16% and the Nasdaq Composite inched lower by 0.03%.

Consumer sentiment data released Friday morning showed a big uptick in inflation expectations, reining in Investor enthusiasm.

The preliminary May reading for the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index came in at 67.4, far below a Dow Jones estimate of 76 and marking its lowest reading in about six months.

— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed to this report.