Asian stock markets eye US inflation

Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Wednesday as investors awaited U.S. inflation figures and the Federal Reserve’s subsequent moves for clues about the path ahead. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones Industrial Average expect inflation to rise 0.4 percent monthly in April and 5 percent year-on-year. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy components, are expected to rise 0.4 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.14 percent after the country announced its budget on Tuesday night. Australia reported its first budget surplus since 2008. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.44 percent and the Topix fell 0.51 percent. Mitsubishi Corp. posted a second straight year of record earnings, with net profit topping 1 trillion yen for the first time at 1.18 trillion yen ($8.72 billion). South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.14 percent and the Kosdaq lost 0.2 percent, even as the country saw its unemployment rate ease to 2.6 percent in April. Markets in mainland China also fell, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling 0.72 percent, extending Tuesday’s losses. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1 percent, while the Shenzhen Component Index saw a smaller loss of 0.53 percent.