Asia stocks weighed by inflation concerns, China tech selling – Reuters.com

Asia stocks weighed by inflation concerns, China tech selling – Reuters.com

HONG KONG, May 23 (Reuters) - Asian stocks faced an uncertain start on Monday as persistent inflation fears and the prospect of rising interest rates dogged the global economic outlook, which remains mired in negative sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was 0.04% higher, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with negligible gains for the day. The index is down 3.6% so far this month.

In early trade, Australian shares (.AXJO) gained 0.2% while Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225) was 0.85% higher.