Asian shares mostly track Wall St drop on inflation worries

Asian shares are mostly lower, tracking a decline on Wall Street, as investors weigh the latest quarterly earnings reports from big U.S. companies and new data pointing to rising inflation

TOKYO -- Asian shares were mostly lower on Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street as investors weighed the latest quarterly earnings reports from big U.S. companies and data pointing to rising inflation. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged down 0.4% to finish at 28,608.49. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 7,354.70. South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.2% to 3,264.81. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.7% to 27,760.96, while the Shanghai Composite dipped 1.1% to 3,528.80. “This backdrop of higher for longer U.S. inflation and a faster hiking Fed and strengthening USD is not a good recipe for emerging Asia,” said Robert Carnell, regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING, referring to the U.S. currency. Surging coronavirus cases in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are another concern, he said. South Korea also is seeing cases jump. It released data showing an improvement in the jobless rate, but the numbers were collected before pandemic restrictions were tightened.