Asian stocks end lower before US inflation hits 3.7%

Most Asian stock markets closed lower on Wednesday, Oct. 14. An early rebound in artificial intelligence shares faded, and investors held back before the US consumer price report that evening, Asian time. Japan's Nikkei 225, South Korea's Kospi and the Shanghai Composite all slipped, according to the Associated Press. Taiwan's Taiex was the main exception and closed higher, El Boletín reported.rttnews.com+1

Chip rebound fades

Chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix ↘ 6.58% climbed early in the session, recovering some of the ground they lost in Tuesday's selloff, Reuters reported. "After yesterday's chip-led sell-off in the region … market participants will be gauging whether shakiness across major indices eases," said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com. The gains did not hold. The Kospi had dropped 5.46% on Tuesday, when worries about AI memory demand and growing Chinese competition hit Samsung and SK Hynix. On Wednesday it erased an intraday gain as foreign investors sold, and it closed lower for a sixth straight session, according to El Boletín. Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended little changed, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell, AP reported. AP also noted that Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT rose early and then gave up its gains.money.usnews.com+2

Strong Chinese data fails to lift Shanghai

China's producer price index rose 5% from a year earlier in September, the fastest pace since June 2022 and above forecasts, Anadolu Agency reported. Exports jumped 36.3% and imports rose 31%, which pushed the trade surplus to $133.5 billion. Consumer inflation, however, was only 0.9%. Economists said that weak reading shows domestic demand is still soft, according to investingLive. Mainland China's markets had the region's biggest declines.aa.com.tr+1

Fed hike path in focus

Investors were also weighing remarks from New York Fed President John Williams. "I haven't changed my view that it may be appropriate to have one more rate hike," Williams told Bloomberg News on Tuesday. He added that he currently sees no reason for further increases in 2027. The Fed raised rates to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% in September, Reuters noted.reuters.com+1

The US report came out after Asian markets closed. The consumer price index rose 0.6% in September, putting annual inflation at 3.7%, up from 3.4% in August. Gasoline accounted for more than half of the monthly increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Core inflation came in at 2.6%. Reuters reported that the hotter reading puts a rate increase at the Fed's Oct. 27–28 meeting back on the radar.bls.gov+1