By Gina Lee
Investing.com -- Asia Pacific stocks were broadly lower Wednesday morning but moves remained small. Investors digested mixed inflation data from China while also awaiting inflation data from the U.S later in the week.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield steadied from a fall to an intraday one-month low. Yields eased for a third consecutive week.
China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.13% by 10:22 PM ET (2:22 AM GMT) while the Shenzhen Component was down 0.29%. The Chinese consumer price index (CPI) for May, released earlier in the day, missed forecasts, contracting 0.2% month-on-month and growing 1.3% year-on-year. However, the producer price index (PPI) exceeded expectations, growing 9% year-on-year.
U.S.-China relations are also back in the spotlight as the U.S. Senate passed a bill to counter the perceived economic and strategic challenge from China. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 bill to invest almost $250 billion in bolstering U.S. manufacturing and technology passed on Tuesday by a 68-32 vote.
Although the bill’s passage was a rare show of bipartisanship in a chamber that remains divided on other issues, it remains to be seen if the House of Representatives will also pass the bill.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.01%.
South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.21%. Earlier Wednesday data showed that the country’s GDP grew by a stronger-than-forecast 7% in the first quarter of 2021, accelerating from the prior quarter's 1.2% growth.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.25% and In Australia, the ASX 200 inched down 0.09%.
On the data front, the U.S. will release CPI data for May on Thursday. The report will be closely watched amid concerns over whether rising price pressures will affect the path of monetary policy in the U.S.
“The tight trading ranges seen so far this month reflect the cautious mood in the market ahead of the inflation numbers,” City Index senior financial markets analyst Fiona Cincotta told Bloomberg.
“Whilst the Fed reassures that this spike in inflation is temporary, policymakers will need to be out in their droves to calm the market,” Cincotta added.
Investors also await the European Central Bank’s policy decision due to be handed down on Thursday. The U.K. is to host the Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ summit, due to get underway on Friday.