Asia markets poised to fall; South Korea's inflation accelerates

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific stocks are set to trade lower on Tuesday as South Korea's inflation rises and investors look ahead to the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision.

The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 27,920 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 27,890. That compared against the Nikkei 225's last close at 27,993.35.

SPI futures in Australia stood at 6,880, lower than the S&P/ASX 200's last close at 6,993.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hike by 50 basis points after official data showed prices in Australia rose 6.1% in the second quarter compared with a year ago.

Consumer prices in South Korea rose 6.3% in July compared with the same period in 2021, official data showed on Tuesday. That's in line with expectations and the fastest acceleration in prices since November 1998, Reuters reported.

The Bank of Korea raised rates by 50 basis points in July.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 46.73 points, or 0.14%, to 32,798.40.

The S&P 500 shed 0.28% to 4,118.63 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.18% and closed at 12,368.98.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 105.450.

The Japanese yen traded at 131.61 per dollar, continuing its strengthening trend. The Australian dollar was at $0.7025, after breaking above $0.7.