Asian stock markets have followed Wall Street lower after the Federal Reserve said U.S. inflation is too high, suggesting support for more aggressive interest rate hikes. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Oil prices edged higher. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.7% after notes from the Fed’s July 26-27 board meeting showed members thought inflation still is “unacceptably high” despite signs U.S. economic growth is weakening. It said the board saw “little evidence” inflation pressures are subsiding. Investors worry aggressive rate hikes by the Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia to tame inflation that is running at multi-decade highs might derail global economic growth.

Asian stocks have followed Wall Street lower ahead of U.S. inflation data traders worry will show upward pressure on prices still is too strong for the Federal Reserve to ease off interest rate hikes. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul declined early Wednesday. Oil prices edged lower. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.4% for its fourth daily decline. U.S. government data are expected to show headline inflation in July eased from the previous month's four-decade high of 9.1%. But traders expect core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy, leaving rent and other expenses, to edge higher.

Asian shares are mostly declining amid a global fall in technology shares, including Japan’s SoftBank, which just reported hefty losses caused by the market downturn. Such worries are coming on top of concerns about inflation and what central banks might do to curb it. Shares fell Tuesday in Tokyo but rose in other regional markets. U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices fell. Analysts say regional tensions also remain a risk after the recent visit of U.S. House Speak Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Technology stocks were the biggest drag on Wall Street, where the benchmark S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower.

Asian stock markets are higher ahead of an update on the health of the U.S. jobs market while the Federal Reserve weighs whether more rate hikes are needed to cool surging inflation. U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher. Investors were looking ahead Friday to U.S. employment figures for signs of weakness that might prompt the Fed to decide it needs to ease off aggressive rate hikes to cool inflation. Investors worry rate increases by the Fed and other central banks in Europe and Asia might derail economic growth. Fed officials point to a strong job market as evidence the economy can tolerate higher borrowing costs.

Asian shares are mostly higher as investors welcome encouraging economic data and quarterly earnings reports from big companies. Benchmarks rose Thursday across the region, including Japan, China, Australia and South Korea. The gains followed a strong rally on Wall Street. Jitters eased over the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan after she left for South Korea and then later Japan, firm U.S. allies for decades. But analysts said some geopolitical risks remain, with China conducting military exercises near the self-ruled island that it claims as its own territory. Investors are also watching U.S. nonfarm payrolls for indications on hiring.

Asian stock markets are higher as traders watch for signs trade might be disrupted by U.S.-Chinese tensions over an American lawmaker’s visit to Taiwan. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul advanced after Beijing announced a ban on imports of Taiwanese citrus and fish but no immediate major penalties following the arrival of Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. House of Representatives. The mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims Taiwan as part of its territory and rejects foreign official contact with the self-ruled island democracy. The mainland gave no indication it might target sensitive industries such as Taiwanese producers of processor chips needed by Chinese smartphone assemblers.