Asia-Pacific markets set to slump as Wall Street dives on rate hike fears

Asia-Pacific markets set to slump as Wall Street dives on rate hike fears

SINGAPORE — Major Asia-Pacific stock markets declined in early trade on Thursday, as Wall Street fell sharply with inflation data . In Japan, the slid 1.51% in early trade , while the Topix fell 0.78%. Shares of dropped around 6% after the company declined to extend its buyback program, according to Reuters. Australia's edged down 0.54%. Bank stocks were mostly in negative territory. Over in South Korea, the fell 0.7%. Markets in India and Singapore are closed on Thursday due to holidays. as key inflation data showed higher-than-expected price pressures. The Dow fell 681 points, or 1.99% lower, to notch its single-worst session since January. The blue-chip index clinched its worst day since February on Tuesday. The S&P 500 lost 2.1%, its biggest one-day drop since February, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.6%. The Labor Department reported that the prices American consumers pay for goods and services accelerated at their fastest pace since 2008 last month with the Consumer Price Index spiking 4.2% from a year ago. "Market reaction to the CPI numbers was swift ... The fear for the equity market is the Fed lifting rates aggressively if there is some notion of the Fed being behind the