Asia markets mostly rise ahead of U.S. inflation report, bank earnings

Investors awaited the U.S. key inflation data, which will determine how the Federal Reserve will proceed in its tightening cycle.

Dow Jones polled economists who expect the U.S. Consumer Price Index to increase by 6% over the past year. The Fed is currently expected to increase rates by 25 basis point next month. In an overnight interview with Yahoo Finance, New York Fed president John Williams stressed that the central banks will remain "data-dependent."

The Nikkei and Topix in Japan both rose by 0.4% as traders digested the producer price index (PPI) and machinery order report from Japan. South Korea's Kospi index was slightly higher after the Bank of Korea maintained its benchmark interest rate of 3.5%.

The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia rose 0.3%, while Hang Seng futures also indicated a lower opening.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that global growth could be at its lowest since 1990 and has lowered its forecasts for the next few years. The chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas stated that banks are a major risk to the growth of the global economy.