Asian stocks mixed as investors await US profits, inflation

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writers

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are mixed as investors wait for U.S. inflation data amid unease about higher interest rates, Chinese efforts to contain coronavirus outbreaks and Russia’s war on Ukraine. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced after authorities in Shanghai said they would ease the shutdown of China’s business capital. Tokyo and Seoul declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index slid 1.7% as investors waited for a new round of corporate results to see how profits are affected by inflation that is at a four-decade high. Markets are uneasy about plans by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to try to cool inflation by rolling back ultra-low interest rates.