This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday after producer prices in the U.S. grew faster than expected in February, coming in at 0.6% last month.
Excluding food and energy prices, core PPI climbed 0.3% in February. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected a 0.3% gain for headline PPI and a 0.2% increase for the core reading.
Investors in Asia will be watching out for any news from Japan’s spring wage negotiations, with first estimates expected to come out later in the day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% at open, while the Topix edged 0.3% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi shed almost 1%, while the smaller-cap Kosdaq dropped 0.9%.
China’s central bank will also be in focus, with the People’s Bank of China expected to keep its one-year medium term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.5%, according to a Reuters report.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,798, also pointing to a lower open compared with the HSI’s close of 16,961.66
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.55% to hit its lowest level in about three weeks.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground as the hot inflation report sent bond yields higher, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury adding about 10 basis points to 4.29%.
This put pressure on equities, with the 30-stock Dow down 0.35%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.29%.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report
U.S. crude prices crack $81 as oil supply deficit forecast for 2024
Crude oil futures rose on Thursday, adding to the previous session’s gains as the International Energy Agency now forecasts a supply deficit for 2024.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for April rose $1.54, or 1.93%, to settle at $81.26 a barrel in U.S. crude’s highest close since Nov. 2, 2023. The Brent contract for May added $1.27, or 1.51%, to $85.30 a barrel.
The move came after the IEA forecast a slight supply deficit for the year rather than a surplus, as the organization assumes OPEC+ will keep its production cuts in place through 2024. The cartel’s cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day are officially in place through at least the second quarter.
JPMorgan slides following regulatory fines
People walk past a Chase Bank on Canal Street in New York City on Feb. 7, 2024.
JPMorgan & Chase slipped more than 1% Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced the bank was fined almost $350 million.
The central bank said JPMorgan was hit with $348.2 million in fines by a pair of U.S. bank regulators. The punishments are tied to a program to analyze firm and client trading for misconduct that has been deemed inadequate.
Despite Thursday’s slide, shares of the bank have climbed more than 11% this year.
— Alex Harring, Reuters
PPI rises more than expected
Staff members prepare for the trial operation of a Costco store in Shanghai, China, on March 1, 2023.
The producer price index rose 0.6% in February. Core PPI, which strips out food and energy, gained 0.3%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 0.3% for the headline number and a 0.2% advance for core PPI.
It marks the last major data release before the Fed’s meeting on March 19-20.
— Fred Imbert