Asia-Pacific markets set for mixed open as investors await business activity data from the region

Asia-Pacific markets are set to kick-start the second half of the year mixed as investors await business activity readings from across the region on Monday.

S&P Global purchasing managers’ index readings will be out for several Asian economies, including China, Japan and South Korea.

The Bank of Japan will also release its second-quarter Tankan survey, which measures business confidence among large Japanese companies.

Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stood at 7,737, slightly lower than its last close of 7,767.5.

In contrast, Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,975 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,820 compared to the previous close of 39,583.08.

Hong Kong markets will be closed Monday for a public holiday.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes ticked down as traders looked at a “near perfect” set of inflation data, according to an industry expert.

Inflation in May slowed to its lowest annual rate in more than three years, with the core personal consumption expenditures price index, up just 0.1% last month and 2.6% higher from the prior year and in line with Dow Jones estimates.

The core PCE index, which strips out prices of food and energy, is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure. Headline PCE, which includes food and energy, was flat on the month and up 2.6% on an annual basis — also in line with expectations.

“From the market’s perspective, today’s PCE report was near perfect,” said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth U.S. “This was unambiguously a positive report.”

The S&P 500 slid 0.41%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.71%. The two averages hit new all-time intraday highs earlier in the session before pulling back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.12%.

—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Alex Harring contributed to this report.