06:37 AM EDT, 04/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets declined on Thursday after the hotter-than-expected overnight inflation bulletin from Washington, and following soggy price reports from Beijing.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 0.4% after the Wednesday US inflation report triggered concerns of a tighter US central bank going forward.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 139.18 to 39,442.63, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 117 to 104.

Leading the upside was Japan Steel Works, up 4.5%, while retailer Seven & i declined 4.8%.

In economic news, Japan's yen declined to near 153 to the US dollar, on the outlook for the Federal Reserve to maintain interest rates "higher for longer." A year ago, the yen traded at about 134 to the greenback.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and finished off 0.3%, after inflation reports from Beijing again pointed to a soggy mainland economy.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 44.14 to 17,095.03, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 53 to 28. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.3%.

Leading the upside was aluminum producer China Hongqiao, up 3.4%, while auto retailer Zhongsheng fell 6.3%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,034.25.

In economic news, China's consumer price index (CPI) rose a modest 0.1% in March on year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The nation's producer price index declined 2.8% on year in March, the NBS added.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.4%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.3%, and the Thai Set declined 0.8%. In Mumbai, the Sensex finished up 0.5%.

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