Following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, Asian stock markets are also trading mixed on Thursday, as traders were cautious and remained on the sidelines ahead of some key U.S. retail sales, producer price inflation and weekly jobless claims data due later in the day, which may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates. Asian Markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday.
Despite data showing a slightly higher than expected consumer inflation reading, there are still hopes the US Fed will cut interest rates in June. The monetary policy meeting on March 19 and 20 will also be watched closely for signals of possible rate cut timings.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.