Asian Markets Open Cautiously Amid Mixed US Signals
Asian markets started October with caution as investors weighed the mixed signals from Wall Street and softer US inflation data. The Hang Seng futures fell 0.7%, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.62%. In contrast, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.28%.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Topix index slipped 0.56%, indicating a mixed start to the month in Asia. The GIFT Nifty, which gauges India's stock market performance, hinted at a muted opening in the red.
US inflation data showed that the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index rose 0.3% month-on-month in August, matching forecasts. However, annual PCE inflation came in at 3.4%, below the 3.7% economists had projected. This reduced the likelihood of an interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve's October meeting.
The release of the US data led to a turnaround on Wall Street, with all three major indices initially climbing after the inflation announcement. However, they later gave back most of those gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 450 points and the S&P 500 retreating 70 points from its intraday high.