All three major U.S. indexes closed lower in the last session as investors digested economic releases stateside ahead of Asia’s Thursday trading day.

The closely-watched consumer price index rose by just 0.1 percent in October compared to the 0.5 percent rise seen in September, which was in line with a forecast from economists in a Reuters poll.

Other U.S. data released on Wednesday included retail sales, which edged up 0.2 percent in October. That was above a Reuters poll in which economists had expected the metric to be unchanged, but still softer than the 1.9 percent rise in September.

Following those releases, the dollar edged up against a basket of currencies to trade at 93.914 at 6:58 a.m. HK/SIN after falling to trade at the 93.4 handle earlier on Wednesday. The greenback, however, was softer against the Japanese currency, with the dollar last trading at 112.87 yen.

Investors also kept an eye on the U.S. Treasury yield curve, which was at its flattest in 10 years as markets anticipated a December interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, oil prices once again declined on Wednesday after a U.S. government agency report showed the build in crude stockpiles was larger than estimated. Brent crude futures settled down 34 cents at $61.87 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate shed 37 cents to settle at $55.33.

Stateside, equities finished the Wednesday session lower as declines in oil prices weighed on energy-related stocks. Investors also focused on the likelihood of proposed tax reforms getting passed before year-end.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 138.19 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 23,271.28 — its lowest finish in more than three weeks. The S&P 500 slid 0.55 percent to end at 2,564.62 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.47 percent to close at 6,706.21.

In Asia, futures suggested a higher open for Japanese equities on Thursday after the Nikkei 225 closed lower for its sixth straight day on Wednesday. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.42 percent at 22,120 and Osaka futures were 0.33 percent higher at 22,100. The benchmark index had ended at 22,028.32 in the last session.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.24 percent in early trade.

Tencent reported net profit rose 69 percent to 18 billion yuan ($2.72 billion) for the quarter that ended in September, easily beating the average 15.18 billion yuan forecast by analysts in a Thomson Reuters poll. The Chinese internet company said its revenue increased 61 percent to 65.2 billion yuan.

Elsewhere, Australian oil and gas company Santos is reportedly the target of a proposed 11 billion Australian dollar ($8.34 billion) takeover, Reuters reported, citing the Australian Financial Review.

The Australian dollar was in focus as investors awaited the release of employment data. The currency had fallen during Asian trade in the last session following the release of weak wage data. The Aussie dollar traded at $0.7586 at 6:39 a.m. HK/SIN after falling as low as $0.7570 on Wednesday.

Here’s the economic calendar for Thursday (all times in HK/SIN):

• 8:30 a.m.: Australia October employment
• 10:00 a.m.: Philippines third-quarter GDP
• 4:30 p.m.: Hong Kong October unemployment
• Indonesia’s central bank is also due to make its interest rates decision during the day