Asian equities drifted lower ahead of a crucial U.S. inflation report that will likely influence how soon the Federal Reserve will end its aggressive rate hikes, with markets betting on at least one more at next month’s policy meeting. | Reuters
The consumer price index is expected to show core inflation rose 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and 5.6 percent year-over-year in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Markets are now pricing in a 66 percent chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May and then pausing for the subsequent meetings, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Minutes of its March meeting are due to be released later in the day and investors will parse through it for clues on Fed’s monetary path of the central bank as well as the impact of the stress in the banking sector.
The cut in oil production announced by the OPEC+ group last week also fanned fears of inflation flaring up, and for investors to really lower their concerns over inflation there will have to be a clear fall in prices for services, Saxo Markets strategists said. China said on Wednesday that President Tsai Ing-wen was pushing Taiwan into “stormy seas” after Beijing held military exercises in response to Tsai’s recent meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
In the currency market, the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, eased 0.049 percent. The euro was up 0.12 percent at $1.0923, while sterling was last trading at $1.2435, up 0.09 percent on the day.
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