Stocks in Asia were lower overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) ending flat on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 0.5% in Hong Kong.
The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.4% down by the end of the session.
Japan’s first quarter GDP reading showed a larger-than-expected contraction, with the economy shrinking at an annualised 0.7% pace during the three months, compared to an expected 0.3% fall.
Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.4%, its fourth consecutive gain, which now brings its advance since the April low to 18.75%.
the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) slipped 0.2% and the Dow Jones (^DJI) also gained 0.7% as weak US inflation data and lower oil prices raised expectations that the Fed would still cut rates this year.
It came as US PPI data for April showed inflation pressures were much softer than expected, with headline PPI down 0.5% on the month, compared to the 0.2% rise expected.
This marked the biggest monthly decline in producer prices since April 2020 and the COVID lockdowns, and it pushed the year-on-year reading down to 2.4% (verses 2.5% expected).
Core inflation was also softer than expected, with the measure excluding food energy and trade down-0.1% on the month, which was the first negative print since April 2020.
It also helped broader inflation expectations to move lower, and the US 10yr inflation swap fell 4.7bps on the day to 2.50%, marking its biggest decline in over a month.
At close: 15 May at 16:46:09 GMT-4