Asia markets set to rebound as Wall Street recovers ground; Japan and Singapore GDP on tap

Asia-Pacific markets were set to rebound after mostly falling on Wednesday after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data stoked concerns the Federal Reserve might keep interest rates higher for longer.

On Thursday, investors will also assess gross domestic product reading from Japan and Singapore, as well as trade numbers from South Korea.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is set to test 34-year highs again, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,140 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,100 against the index’s last close of 37,703.32.

Should the index match the futures level, it would be less than 1,000 points from its all-time high of 38,915.87 hit on Dec. 29, 1989.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.61%, snapping a three-day losing streak.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 15,931, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI’s close of 15,879.38.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes also regained some ground after Wednesday’s sell-off following hotter-than-anticipated inflation reading as traders fretted that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates as early as they had hoped.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.96%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report