Nikkei remains firm after opening higher by 0.35%, eyes on China CPI

Asian stock markets largely fell back on Tuesday but the Nikkei is attempting to correct that in Wednesday's trade. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened up 0.35 per cent at 24,876.49 on Wednesday, while the broader Topix gained 0.37 percent at 1,766.43.

At the time of writing, the index is higher by some 0.4 per cent. This is despite the major US stock indexes ending lower in rocky trading on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 184.74 points, or 0.56%, to 32,632.64, the S&P 500 dropped 30.39 points, or 0.72%, to 4,170.7 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 35.41 points, or 0.28%, to 12,795.55.

The three main US indexes were volatile on the news that the United States had banned Russian oil and other energy imports as a result of its Ukraine invasion. Additionally, ''the European Commission set out a plan Tuesday to reduce European dependence on Russian natural gas by two-thirds this year and eliminate it before the end of the decade. On the same day, the UK unveiled a proposal to phase out the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022,'' Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, giving sentiment a boost, EU “sources” said that the EU Heads of State informal meeting (Thursday and Friday this week) would discuss the potential issuance of EU-wide EUR-denominated bonds to support the cost of defence and security in the region.

Asia economic data

For the day ahead and following Japan's miss in Gross Domestic Product, markets will look to the Chinese Consumer Price Index:

''Seasonals are unfavourable in Feb resulting in an increase in inflation pressures, but this should be counterbalanced by a sizeable drop in pork prices and a high base in February last year,'' analysts at TD Securities said.

''A decline in industrial commodity prices and PMI input prices suggests a further moderation in PPI in Feb though we note that bulks, steel and oil prices have continued to rise.''