Asia markets track Wall Street decline, third-quarter U.S. GDP numbers in focus

Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday after Wall Street dropped overnight, while investors awaited gross domestic product reading and inflation numbers from the U.S.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the U.S. economy to post a 5.2% year-on-year growth in the third quarter, while the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index is expected to climb 2.3% in the same period — its slowest rise since the fourth quarter of 2020.

Investors in Asia will assess producer prices reading from South Korea, as well as Indonesia’s central bank decision on Thursday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.57%, after the index recorded its eighth day of gains in nine sessions on Wednesday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 1.31%, while the Topix fell 1.18%.

South Korea’s Kospi also dropped 0.36% and the small-cap Kosdaq shed 0.2%, on pace to snap a three-day winning streak.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 16,507, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 16,613.81.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes lost ground as investors took some profits, after nine straight days of gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite.

The Dow slid 1.27%, while the tech heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.5%. The broader S&P 500 declined 1.47%, after coming within 1% of its all time high of 4,796, hit in January 2022.

— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Samantha Subin contributed to this report