Asia-Pacific stock markets are expected to open slightly lower on Friday. Sentiment remains thin as US stock futures moved flat during the Thanksgiving holiday, while the Nasdaq Composite is on track to end its seven-month winning streak. In the region, market participants will focus on Tokyo inflation data—often a guide to Japan's national inflation—and India's fiscal second-quarter GDP data, due out this Friday.

The latest data showed Tokyo's October headline inflation edged down to 2.7% from 2.8%, while core inflation rose to 2.8%, slightly above the 2.7% forecast. Core inflation in Japan excludes fresh food prices but includes energy. On the stock exchange, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell about 0.18% early in the session. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures indicated a slightly weaker open, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng futures were also slightly below their last close, signaling a cautious start to trading in Asia.

On Wall Street, the three major US indexes barely moved in the previous session. Dow futures rose only about 10 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures moved just above the flatline. Technology stocks weighed on index performance in November as the market began to doubt the long-term profitability prospects of AI companies. However, some investors saw this weakness as an opportunity to hunt for blue-chip stocks with more attractive valuations, hoping for a year-end rally. The US stock market was closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday at 1:00 p.m. ET. (az)

Source: Newsmaker.id