Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after the S&P 500 edged higher Tuesday as US investors looked ahead to fresh inflation data.

ASX futures were up 0.3% or 24 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.

US stocks ended the day slightly higher on Tuesday, led by gains in real estate stocks.

The S&P 500 rose after the opening bell but turned lower to spend much of the session in the red before ending the day higher. The broad U.S. stock index added 0.1%, with nine of its 11 sectors gaining ground. Only the financials and industrials groups declined. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1%, or about 9 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.9% to US$89.58 a barrel, while gold was down 0.01% at US$2,352.50.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 3.77% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.17%. US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.74% and the 10 Year yield at 4.36%.

The Australian dollar was 66.25 US cents down from its previous close of 66.26. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was down at 98.73.

Asia

Chinese shares closed slightly higher, reversing their early losses. Investors are looking to China's inflation data due later this week; Beijing didn't impose any immediate policy changes or make any major statements as U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrapped up her visit to China. Lithium stocks rose with Ganfeng Lithium 6.0% higher and Tianqi Lithium up 3.9%. The medical sector also rose with Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting gaining 8.2% and Yunnan Botanee Biotechnology up 3.7%. Meanwhile, bank stocks led the losses with Agricultural Bank of China down 1.4% and Bank of China 0.9% lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.05% at 3048.54. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.8% and the ChiNext Price Index advanced 1.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.6% to close at 16828.07, led by manufacturing stocks. Investors are likely eyeing China inflation data due later this week. Among today's gainers, Xinyi Solar rose 5.4%, Xinyi Glass gained 4.2% and SMIC was 3.2% higher. NetEase advanced 4.1% after China approved new imported videogame titles this month. Among decliners, Baidu lost 3.3%, Cnooc fell 1.4% and Lenovo Group shed 0.9%.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in electronics and real estate stocks, thanks partly to a weak yen and an easing of concerns about energy prices. Yaskawa Electric ascended 7.3% and Mitsubishi Estate climbed 4.0%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1% to 39773.13. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield stayed flat at 0.785%. Investors are focusing on any policy-related news from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's U.S. visit as well as economic data.

Indian shares ended slightly lower after pulling back from touching a fresh record intraday high earlier in the session. "Anticipation of good quarterly results and the much-anticipated rate cuts are driving the Indian markets to new highs," Sheersham Gupta, director and senior technical analyst at Rupeezy, said in a note. However, investors proceeded with caution as they await U.S. inflation data and a European Central Bank meeting later this week, Gupta added. Financial stocks' gains offset losses among energy shares. Reliance Industries dropped 1.5% and Coal India was 1.7% lower. ICICI Bank gained 1.8% and Bajaj Finserv put up 1.2%. The benchmark Sensex Index ended 0.1% lower at 74683.70.

Europe

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.6% to 505.82, the CAC 40 shed 0.9% to 8,049.17 while Germany's DAX lost 1.3% to 18,076.69.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.2% to 7957.612 as gains for oil giant BP and miners helped it outperform European indexes, which fell on caution ahead of Wednesday's U.S. inflation data. BP shares rose 1.6% after the company said it expects higher oil and gas production to boost 1Q profit. Precious-metal miner Fresnillo led gainers, with shares up 5.1%, after Bank of America Global Research upgraded the stock to neutral reflecting recent gold and silver price rallies. Retailers gained after a BRC survey showed higher retail sales in March. Shares in engineering and defense firms BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce dropped 4.5% and 4.1%, respectively, while financial stocks mostly fell.

North America

US stocks ended the day slightly higher on Tuesday, led by gains in real estate stocks.

Traders will be watching to see if consumer prices extend their recent stretch of hotter-than-expected inflation. Evidence of persistently stubborn inflation could reinforce growing doubts that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates multiple times this year.

"CPI coming in a little stronger than where they'd like it to be is nudging them ever so slightly toward keeping rates higher for longer," said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede.

Economists expect Wednesday's inflation report to show that consumer prices rose 3.4% in March from a year earlier, up from a 3.2% rate in February. Both the February and January reports showed inflation had been hotter than anticipated.

The S&P 500 rose after the opening bell but turned lower to spend much of the session in the red before ending the day higher. The broad U.S. stock index added 0.1%, with nine of its 11 sectors gaining ground. Only the financials and industrials groups declined.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1%, or about 9 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.

The latest employment report on Friday showed the economy added a seasonally adjusted 303,000 jobs in March, far above the 200,000 economists had predicted. While a strong economy is generally good news for business, investors are scrutinizing incoming data for signs that activity is so vigorous it could thwart the central bank's campaign to tame inflation.

"The economy is still running hotter than the Fed would like," said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. "Inflation is still stubbornly too high by virtually any measure, and the employment market is still pretty robust."

The major indexes have slipped to start the second quarter, leaving the S&P 500 up 9.2% in 2024 and the Dow industrials up 3.2%.

Some investors think the recent choppiness in trading overlooks a sound economic backdrop, despite any concerns over the exact number of interest-rate cuts the central bank delivers in 2024.

"Not only do you have resilient growth, but you do have a Fed that is in a position of being able to cut rates," said Nanette Abuhoff Jacobson, global investment strategist at Hartford Funds. "If anything negative happens to the market, they have the option to protect it, if you will, by delivering cuts."

In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped to 4.365%, from 4.422% Monday. That was the highest 3 p.m. yield since November.

Gold prices climbed 0.5% to $2,343.50 a troy ounce, a third consecutive record close. Shares of gold miners Newmont and Barrick Gold rose 0.7% and 1.7%, respectively.

Shares of Norfolk Southern rose 1.3% after the railroad operator agreed to pay $600 million to settle lawsuits related to a train derailment in Ohio last year.