Asia-Pacific markets set to open lower as weakness in the U.S. dents investor sentiment

Asia-Pacific markets are set to decline Friday, with a slowing U.S. economy, inflation fears and uncertainties from the judicial developments surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs weighing on investor sentiment."

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on Wednesday night that Trump had overstepped his authority when he imposed his "reciprocal" tariffs. The court ordered that the challenged tariff orders be vacated.

However, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal shortly after the judgment, and an appeals court reinstated the levies on Thursday afternoon. The administration said it could ask the Supreme Court as early as Friday to pause the federal court's original ruling if necessary.

Investors are keeping a close watch on Tokyo's core inflation reading for April to assess how it may affect the Bank of Japan's decision whether to hike rates again this year amid the ongoing tariff uncertainty.

The reading, which captures consumer costs excluding fresh food, moved up to 3.6% from a year ago, its highest level since January 2023.

The reading, which captures consumer costs excluding fresh food, was expected to rise 3.5%, according to economists polled by Reuters, compared to 3.4% the month prior.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in both Chicago at 37,895 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,900, against the index's Thursday close of 38,432.98.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 23,297, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's last close of 23,573.38.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was slated to start the day flat, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,404, compared to its last close of 8,409.80.

U.S. futures were little changed as investors await more trade news and fresh inflation data.

Overnight stateside, all three key benchmarks on Wall Street rose, even as gains were curtailed by caution around the court rulings on Trump's "reciprocal tariffs."

The S&P 500 moved up thanks to strong moves in chipmaker Nvidia. The broad-based index ended the day higher by 0.4% at 5,912.17 despite climbing as much as 0.9%.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.39% to 19,175.87, also well off its highest intraday gain of 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117.03 points, or 0.28%, to finish at 42,215.73.