MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.2%, led by a 5.6% plunge in South Korea's KOSPI. (EPA Images pic)SINGAPORE: Markets started the day on the back foot as trading kicked off in Asia on Thursday, as a quicker-than-expected increase in US consumer price inflation upped expectations for the Federal Reserve to act later this year and pushed stocks lower.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.2%, led by a 5.6% plunge in South Korea's KOSPI, while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.3%. S&P 500 e-mini futures EScv1 were down 0.3%.
"Asia faces another difficult session," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd in Melbourne. "KOSPI and Nikkei futures point to renewed technology weakness, with leveraged ETF flows and AI infrastructure credit risk firmly in focus."
