Stock futures are higher as investors await key inflation report: Live updates

China’s inflation for April is expected to fall further to 0.3%, according to a Reuters poll of 37 economists. The country will release its consumer price index Thursday.

Should the forecast prove accurate, that would mark the third-straight month of decline in the inflation rate, and the lowest reading since February 2021, when inflation was at -0.2%.

China’s inflation stood at 0.7% in March after coming down from a peak of 2.1% in January.

— Lim Hui Jie

The Australian government should not rest on its laurels and instead work to improve the structural position of the budget in the medium term, according to Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“If you look at what’s projected at the moment: within two years, we are projected to be back into a deficit of $35 billion a year, so that needs to be further addressed,” ACCI chief executive McKellar told CNBC in a Wednesday interview.

Late Tuesday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced billions in cost-of-living relief aimed at lowering power bills and consumer prices, with defense and ties with neighboring Pacific nations another priority as Australia looks to counter China’s growing strategic influence in the region, Reuters reported.

In various interviews with Australian media on Wednesday morning, Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected concerns that the budget will end up worsening inflation.

Chalmers expects domestic growth to slow to just 1.25% in 2023/24 from 3.25% this fiscal year, in large part due to the 375-basis-points of rate rises from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

“Our assessment is that it is time to pause,” said ACCI chief executive McKellar. “The real test for the success of the budget: will it be seen by the Reserve Bank to take the risk off inflation. If we do see further interest rate increases in the coming months, we may see monetary and fiscal policy potentially pushing against each other. That is a situation we want to avoid.”

— Clement Tan

Korean Air CEO Walter Cho expects a full recovery by the third quarter. The airline has doubled in operating profit compared with 2019, he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

Passenger demand is “very strong right now” and the airline has reached about 90% capacity in passenger traffic, Cho added.

Korean Air is seeing “very strong” demand from China but, Cho said, it is only at about 30% capacity currently. Cho said the airline expects capacity to open up fully by the second half of the third quarter.

Japan has shown strong traffic from the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, which the airline expects will continue “all throughout this year,” Cho said.

– Audrey Wan

Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corp posted a record net profit of 1.18 trillion yen ($8.72 billion) for its financial year ended March, the first time net profit has crossed the 1 trillion mark.

The 1.18 trillion yen figure was 25.94% higher compared with the 2021 fiscal year, which saw a net profit of 937.5 billion yen. The earnings were led by gains in the natural gas, industrial materials and real estate segments.

However, the company said that net income for the current financial year will most likely come in lower at 920 billion yen due to high market prices for resources.

Mitsubishi also announced additional share buybacks of 200 billion yen for its 2022 fiscal year, bringing its total amount of buybacks to 370 billion yen. The company estimates 100 billion yen in share buybacks for its current fiscal year.

Shares of Mitsubishi surged 4.04% on Wednesday and was the top gainer on the Topix in terms of index points.

President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders, as well as Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, all pledged that the United States will not default on its debt after a high stakes meeting at the White House.

“I made clear during the meeting that default is not an option,” Biden said at a hastily called press conference.

“The United States has never defaulted on its debt and it never will,” said McConnell, who attended the meeting with GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Calif., Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York.

Schumer said that McCarthy was the only attendee at the meeting who would not rule out a debt default. “We explicitly asked speaker McCarthy would he take default off the table. He refused,” Schumer said.

For his part, McCarthy told reporters he did not see “any new movement” in negotiating positions. “Everybody in this meeting reiterated the positions they were at,” he said.

Despite making little progress, the leaders will reconvene on Friday. In the interim, Biden said, their aides will meet every day.

— Christina Wikie

Airbnb shares lost 11% in extended trading after sharing soft guidance for the current quarter.

Despite the after-hours losses, Airbnb reported first-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Looking ahead, the company warned of tough comparables in the second quarter. Last year, the company benefited during the period from pent-up demand for travel following an omicron surge.

For the current period, Airbnb said it expects a decline in bookings growth and average daily rates from a year ago.

— Samantha Subin, Ashley Capoot

These are some of the names making the biggest moves after the bell:

Twilio — Twilio shares shed nearly 14% after providing a lighter-than-expected forecast for the current quarter. The company posted a slight beat on revenue.

Rivian — The electric vehicle stock gained more than 5% in extended trading. Rivian reported a narrower-than-expected loss and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations. The company also reaffirmed its EV production target.

Affirm — Shares of the buy-now-pay-later company fell more than 9% despite better-than-expected revenue. Losses for the quarter tripled from last year, but were narrower than expected.

— Samantha Subin