Japanese 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 10,000 yen banknotes arranged in Kyoto, Japan.
Kentaro Takahashi| Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed on Friday after inflation readings for June in the U.S. came in at the lowest level in about three years and giving the Federal Reserve more impetus to lower rates.
The consumer price index rose at 3% year-on-year, a slower rise than the 3.3% in May.
Core inflation — which strips out food and energy costs, increased 0.1% monthly and 3.3% from a year ago, compared with respective forecasts for 0.2% and 3.4%.
Early Friday, the yen also suddenly strengthened against the dollar after the U.S. inflation data release, prompting analysts and traders to suspect a possible intervention from the country’s ministry of finance.
The yen traded at 158.55 against the U.S. dollar at roughly 12 a.m. Tokyo time after trading around 161.52 late Thursday.
The currency strengthened further against the greenback, currently standing at 158.23.
On Friday, Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said that authorities will take action as needed in the foreign exchange market.
Reuters also reported that Kanda said recent yen moves were somewhat rapid, but declined to comment on whether authorities had intervened in the currency.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.57% on Friday, leading losses in Asia after three straight days of setting new closing highs and reaching an all-time high on Thursday. The Topix also retreated, falling 1.08%.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.94%, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.19%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.23%, surpassing its all time closing high of 7,896.9 set on March 28 and just shy of its all time high.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 17,978, lower than the HSI’s last close of 17,832.33.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 retreated from a record as investors rotated out of the big technology winners of the year, including Nvidia and Meta Platforms.
The broad market index fell 0.88%, retreating from a record it touched earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq Composite also pulled back 1.95%, after also hitting a new record earlier in the trading day and weighed down by a decline of more than 5% in Nvidia.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.08%.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Brian Evans contributed to this report.