Asia markets poised to open mixed after Nasdaq hits fresh record high

Asia-Pacific markets are set for a mixed open on Wednesday as the Nasdaq Composite hit another new record high on Wall Street to surpass 17,000 for the first time, powered by a 7% gain in tech darling Nvidia.

Investors will be assessing Australia’s inflation numbers for April, with the weighted inflation rate expected to ease to 3.4% from 3.5% in March.

In a preview note last week, analysts from ING said: “One more bad inflation report from Australia, and we will consider removing the final cut we have pencilled in by the [Reserve Bank of Australia] in the fourth quarter of this year. Two more, and we may consider adding a rate hike.”

Futures for the S&P/ASX 200 point to a weaker open, at 7,746 compared to the last close of 7,766.7.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is set to rise, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,920 and its counterpart in Osaka at 38,950 against the index’s last close of 38,855.37.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,697, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,821.16.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 inched up just 0.02%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.55%.

While Nvidia’s rally disguised troubles in the broader market, the blue-chip Dow was weighed down by a drop in Merck and other health-care stocks.

Meanwhile, more than 350 stocks in the broad S&P 500 were negative in the session. The index’s health-care, industrials and financials sectors all finished more than 1% in the red.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.