Asia-Pacific markets slip ahead of inflation data from China, the U.S.

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific shares fell in early trade on Wednesday as investors await inflation data from China and the U.S.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.63%, while the Topix index slipped 0.46%.

In South Korea, the Kospi dipped 0.54% and the Kosdaq dropped 0.75%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.12%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan shed 0.22%.

China is set to release inflation data Wednesday. The producer price index for July is expected to rise 4.8% from a year ago, according to a Reuters poll. In June, the PPI increased by 6.1%.

Consumer prices are forecast to increase 2.9% compared with the same period in 2021.

Later Wednesday, the U.S. will be reporting inflation data as well. Economists predict that consumer inflation will come in at 8.7%, compared with 9.1% in June, according to Dow Jones.

In company news, Toyota Motor announced that it would suspend some production operations due to positive Covid cases at work sites.

Cathay Pacific and Honda Motor are among the companies reporting earnings on Wednesday.

Overnight stateside, the Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1% to 12,493.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 58.13 points or 0.18% to 32,774.41, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.42% to 4,122.47.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 106.342, holding below the 106.5 level.

The Japanese yen traded at 135.16 per dollar, staying weaker since the strong U.S. payrolls report. The Australian dollar was at $0.6953.

Oil futures were lower. U.S. crude futures were down 0.15% at $90.36 per barrel, while Brent crude futures were around flat at $96.25 per barrel.