Asia-Pacific markets open lower as investors await China GDP and sales data

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Wednesday after Wall Street declined overnight as investors assessed quarterly earnings, while tariff worries continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded around the flatline. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.18%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.08%

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 21,455, slightly weaker than the HSI’s last close of 21,466.27.

China is set to post its first-quarter GDP figures later in the day. Reuters’ economists expect a 5.1% expansion year on year, compared to 5.4% growth in the previous quarter.

The country is also slated to report its industrial production, retail sales and unemployment data.

UBS recently downgraded its GDP forecast for China to 3.4% for 2025, and to 3% next year. The investment bank’s chief China economist, Tao Wang, estimates that tariff hikes imposed by the U.S. on Chinese goods will cause a more than 2 percentage points drag on China’s GDP growth.

Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that China had ordered all airlines to halt deliveries of Boeing jets amid a tit-for-tat tariff war with the U.S. This move could increase chances of a negotiation, according to Louis Navellier, founder and chairman of Navellier & Associates.

“The probability of a resolution of the trade spat between China and the U.S. is now expected since Boeing and the technology industry are likely putting pressure on the White House,” said Navellier.

U.S. stock futures slipped as investors looked ahead to the release of a key retail sales report and more earnings from the first-quarter season. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 139 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major averages fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 155.83 points, or 0.38%, to close at 40,368.96. The S&P 500 declined 0.17% and ended at 5,396.63. The Nasdaq Composite ticked down 0.05% and settled at 16,823.17. The three averages slipped following back-to-back winning sessions.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.