Asia-Pacific markets fall after U.S. inflation rises faster than expected

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific fell at the open on Thursday after a hotter-than-expected inflation report in the U.S.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.37% while the Topix index declined 0.48%.

In South Korea, the Kospi was 0.59% lower and the Kosdaq shed 0.09%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was just under the flatline.

Consumer prices rose 9.1% from a year ago, above the 8.8% Dow Jones estimate. That's the fastest pace since November 1981, and investors are concerned about how aggressive the Fed will have to be to fight rising prices.

Already, two Wall Street firms are speculating that the Fed could go for a 100-basis-point rate hike this month, which Canada's central bank did on Wednesday.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks declined following the inflation report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 208.54 points, or 0.67%, to 30,772.79, while the S&P 500 slid 0.45% to 3,801.78. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.15% to close at 11,247.58.

The yield curve inversion in U.S. Treasurys, seen as a recession signal, widened on Wednesday stateside. The 2-year yield last stood at 3.1817%, higher than 2.9465% for the 10-year note. Yields move inversely to prices.

In economic data, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said the country's gross domestic product grew 4.8% in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same period a year ago. That's up from 4% in the first quarter of the year.

Australia will report unemployment data later today.

Taiwan's chipmaker TSMC and Japan's Fast Retailing are due to report earnings Thursday as well.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, briefly slipped below 108, but was last at 108.273.

The Japanese yen traded at 137.63 per dollar, and the Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6731.

Oil futures fell in Asia trade. U.S. crude slipped 0.48% to $95.84 per barrel.

— CNBC's Jeff Cox and Yun Li contributed to this report.