Zhang Mengying

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Friday morning. Investors are digesting the European Central Bank’s signals on future interest rate hikes ahead of U.S. inflation data.

Japan’s fell 1.41% by 10:49 PM ET (2:49 AM GMT), and South Korea’s was down 1.08%.

The Australian fell 0.99%

Hong Kong’s was down 0.89%

The tech companies listed in Hong Kong fell after the Chinese government responded to a Bloomberg Report. Alibaba (NYSE:) Group Holding Ltd.’s U.S.-listed shares plunged after the China Securities Regulatory Commission denied an initial Bloomberg report which says it was considering a revival of the fintech company’s listing.

China’s was up 0.10% while the inched up 0.02%

Data released earlier showed that China’s to its slowest pace in 14 months in May. In May, the rate of growth was 6.4%, while April saw a 8.0% increase. The reading was the lowest since March 2021. It could have been due to low demand for steel and aluminium, as well as other industrial commodities, caused by COVID-19 interruptions in production.

The rate of inflation rose by 2.1% in the same period.

The said that to curb high inflation it would prepare a quarter point interest rate increase in July, and an even larger hike in fall if the inflation stays high. Inflation in the eurozone is now higher than 8%.

The short-term U.S. Treasury yields have risen to near 2022 levels, with a selling of the euro-area bond markets following the ECB’s interest rate rise signals.

The ECB has also stated that they will stop buying net assets on July 1, 2022.

Now investors shifted their focus to , due later in the day, for more clues on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes path.

“We’ve reconnected that inverse link between bond yields and stock prices,” Charles Schwab & Co. chief investment strategist Liz Ann Sonders told Bloomberg.

“There’s a bit more chatter, call it to whisper numbers, for the CPI being a little north of expectations. You add in a more hawkish stance by the ECB, and you have another weaker day.”