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Asian equity futures pointed to a cautious open for stock markets around the region on Wednesday after U.S. shares fell and a rally in oil increased concern about inflation.Contracts for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose just 0.1%, those for Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3% and futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2%. The S&P 500 ended below 4,500 Tuesday while an index of small caps slid about 2% and a gauge of homebuilders sank 5.5%.Investors in Asia will be watching for gross domestic product data from Australia Wednesday, consumer price index figures in Taiwan and a speech from Bank of Japan board member Hajime Takata.Brent oil rallied to $90 a barrel for the first time since November as key OPEC+ producers extended supply cuts that have tightened the crude market.West Texas Intermediate was also above $86-mark. The yield on the 10-year U.S. bond was trading at 4.26% and Bitcoin was below 26,000-level.At 5:27 a.m., the GIFT Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India was up 16 points or 0.08% at 19,677.5.India's benchmark stock indices steadily advanced on Tuesday to end higher for the third consecutive session. The Sensex ended above the 65,700 mark, while the Nifty closed beyond the 19,500 level.The media and pharmaceutical sectors advanced, whereas banks and non-banking financial services were under pressure. Nifty IT and Nifty Media hit 17-month highs intraday, whereas Nifty Metal hit a fresh record. Broader markets outperformed their larger peers, and the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 scaled record closing highs.Overseas investors remained net sellers of Indian equities on Tuesday for the second consecutive session. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 1,725 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange. Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 1,078 crore, the NSE data showed.The local currency weakened 29 paise to close at Rs 83.04 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. This is the weakest close since Aug. 21.Continue Reading. Read more on Business News by BloombergQuint.
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