ASIAN SHARES PRESSURED, TRADERS BRACE FOR US CPI BUT CHEER PARTIAL EASING OF SHANGHAI LOCKDOWN

• A mixed mood in Asia as Shanghai has eased the lockdown vs. incoming US CPI data. 
• SCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3% while China’s bluechip CSI300 Index was up 0.4%.

It has been a disappointing start to the week in global equities and on Tuesday, Japanese shares dropped to their lowest in nearly four weeks, with index heavyweight tech stocks leading the fall riding the bear’s coattails on Wall Street. The Nikkei share average was down 1.5% at 26,424.42, while the broader Topix had slipped 1.28% to 1,865.50.

Wall Street closed sharply lower on a holiday-shortened week as Good Friday approaches. Rising bond yields weighed on market-leading growth stocks ahead of key inflation data. The Core Consumer Price Index will likely increase by 0.47% in March, Goldman Sachs said in a research note, taking the year-on-year inflation rate higher by 20 basis points to 6.6%. The data is due Tuesday. The US 10-year yield jumped 5.4 basis points on the day to almost 2.77%.

Meanwhile, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%. Australian shares were down 0.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 1.5%. However, on a more positive note, China’s markets are in bullish correction mode as signs have emerged in a report from Bloomberg that Shanghai has eased a lockdown for 43% of its housing complexes. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.6% in early trade on Tuesday, while China’s bluechip CSI300 Index was up 0.4%.