Asia-Pacific markets set to open mixed as investors await China data, monitor escalating Israel-Iran tensions

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed as investors awaited China data, and continued to assess escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

The Asian giant is expected to release its one-year and five-year loan prime rates for June later in the day.

Investors are also monitoring the Israel-Iran conflict as U.S. President Donald Trump weighs on whether to back the Israeli military and strike Tehran. The White House said that he will make afinal decision within the next two weeks.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,645 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,520, against the index’s Thursday close of 38,488.34.

The country’s core inflation rate climbed to 3.7% in May, its highest level since January 2023. The metric — which strips out costs for fresh food — was higher than the 3.6% expected by economists polled by Reuters, and is above April’s print of 3.5%.

Australia’sS&P/ASX 200 is slated to start the day lower, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,496 compared to its last close of 8,523.70.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 23,185, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 23,237.74.

U.S. stock futuresfell in early Asian hours as investors investors pored through the latest developments in the Middle East.

Overnight stateside, regular trading was closed for the Juneteenth holiday.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans contributed to this report.