India inflation and industrial data in focus


A money lender counts Indian rupee currency notes at his shop in Ahmedabad, India.

Amit Dave | Reuters

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Monday after a rollercoaster week that saw steep sell-offs followed by a sharp recovery, especially in Japan stocks.

Futures for benchmark U.S. indexes were lower as investors awaited key inflation data due later this week. Major Wall Street averages rose Friday, with the indexes making a sharp recovery from last week’s market rout.

The Dow ended Friday down 0.6%, while the S&P 500 fell a slight 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished with a 0.18% loss.

In Asia, traders on Monday will assess inflation and industrial output data from India.

Economists polled by Reuters expect India’s year-on-year CPI inflation to fall sharply to 3.65% in July, from 5.08% in the previous month.

Meanwhile, India’s industrial output for June is expected to come in at 5.5%, slightly down from 5.9% in May.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.45%. Australian consumer electronics retail company JB Hi-Fi was up over 8% after the company released its full-year results.

Despite a fall in net profit after tax, the company announced a special dividend of 80 Australian cents per share (53 U.S. cents per share), made possible by “an elevated net cash position and a significant franking credit balance.”

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.9% while the small-cap Kosdaq was up 0.8%.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 was flat, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.1%.

Japan markets were closed for a holiday.

—CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.



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