This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Australian and Japanese markets fell Wednesday as investors brace for the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision, due early Thursday in Asia.

Investors will also keep an eye on the yen, which saw a volatile start to the week amid suspected intervention on Monday. The currency currently trades around the 157.7 level against the greenback.

Most Asian markets are closed on Wednesday due to the Labor Day holiday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 inched down 0.34%, reversing earlier losses and closing at 38,274.05, while the broad based Topix was 0.5% lower to end at 2,729.4.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.23%, finishing at 7,569.9.

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell after higher-than-expected wage data raised fresh inflation concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

The Labor Department said Tuesday the employment cost index, a measure of wages and benefits, rose 1.2% in the first quarter, above the 1% consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones. Treasury yields jumped following the data, with the 2-year yield topping 5%.

The S&P 500 dropped 1.57%, while The Dow Jones Industrial Averagefell 1.49%. The Nasdaq Composite shed 2.04% to 15,657.82.

— CNBC's Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed to this report.

Microsoft opens first regional data centre in Thailand

Tech giant Microsoft announced it will open its first regional data center in Thailand.

The company said it will also build new cloud and AI infrastructure in Thailand, as well as provide AI skilling opportunities for over 100,000 people

Microsoft said the data center region will expand the availability of its hyperscale cloud services, "facilitating enterprise-grade reliability, performance, and compliance with data residency and privacy standards."

— Lim Hui Jie

Mitsui's full-year profit falls 6%, shares climb as $1.26 billion buyback announced

Japanese trading house Mitsui and Co reported a 6.4% fall in profit to 1.08 trillion yen ($6.84 billion) for its 2023 financial year ended March 31.

Profit before tax came in at 1.3 trillion yen, down 6.7% year-on-year, while revenue dipped 6.9% to 13.32 trillion yen compared to the same period last year.

Despite the poorer results, shares of the company climbed 1.23% as it also announced a 200 billion yen share buyback from May 2 to Sept. 20.

Mitsui will buy back up to 40 million shares, or 80 million after a share split on July 1.

— Lim Hui Jie

Oil on pace for three straight days of losses amid rising inventory and ceasefire hopes

Oil prices have fallen for a third straight day as U.S. inventories rise as well as optimism for a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East.

Brent contracts slid 0.88% to $85.57 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude saw a larger loss of 1.03% to $81.09 per barrel.

Reuters reported that U.S. crude oil inventories swelled last week by 4.906 million barrels, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles fell, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

— Lim Hui Jie

Money market data suggests that yen strengthening may have been intervention: Reuters

The sudden strengthening of the yen on Monday is likely due to intervention by Japanese authorities, Reuters reported, citing money market data from the Bank of Japan.

Money market data revealed that the central bank's projection for Wednesday's money market conditions indicated a 7.56 trillion yen ($47.91 billion) net receipt of funds.

Reuters said this compared with a 2.05 billion to 2.30 billion yen estimate from money market brokerages that excludes intervention, adding that currency trades take two days to settle.

On Monday, the yen weakened to a 34-year low against the greenback, hitting 160.03 before strengthening to about 155 in the space of a few hours.

— Lim Hui Jie

South Korea's exports post sharp increase in April, beats expectations

South Korea posted a 13.8% increase in exports in April, a sharp increase compared to the 3.1% rise in March, according to preliminary estimates by the country's customs service.

The rise also beat the 13.7% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Imports to South Korea climbed 5.4%, less than the 6.2% rise expected and a reversal from the 12.3% fall in March.

As such, the country's trade balance narrowed to $1.53 billion, down from the $4.29 billion recorded in March.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Citi names 3 biotech stocks to play a growing $2.9 billion opportunity — giving one about 50% upside

The outlook is starting to look bright for biotech stocks, according to some.

With markets now expecting the first rate cut to be in September rather than June or July, as previously thought, biotech stocks could start to do well.

Biotech encompasses many different areas, but Citi has identified one with a $2.9 billion market — which it says is set for even more growth. According to Citi, the market for it is set to grow by mid-single digit over the next five years.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

CNBC Pro: Only 2 stocks in Europe have beaten estimates for 5 quarters and rallied each time

Only two European stocks have positively surprised markets every quarter for the past five quarters, according to analysis by CNBC Pro.

CNBC Pro screened for Stoxx 600 stocks that report EPS figures and have analysts' estimates available on FactSet.

One of the stocks stood out for several large share price jumps following quarterly earnings releases. Most recently, the company beat earnings estimates by 6.1% and shares rallied by more than 8% in the following session. Similarly, the stock rallied by 12.8% in a single session four quarters ago.

CNCB Pro subscribers can read more about the stocks here.

— Ganesh Rao

Bitcoin briefly dips under $60,000, slides to worst month since 2022

Bitcoin continued its month-long slide to close out April, falling 4% and at one point trading just below the $60,000 level.

The flagship cryptocurrency is on pace to end the month down 15% and post its first negative month in the past eight. It would be its worst month since November 2022, when FTX collapsed. It's still up 43% for 2024.

Stocks whose performance is tied to the price of bitcoin tumbled with the cryptocurrency. Crypto exchange Coinbase fell 6%, while MicroStrategy lost 15%. The software company and self-described Bitcoin development company also reported a loss for the first quarter.

In the mining sector, Marathon Digital dropped 10.5%, while Riot Platforms lost 8.5%. IREN and CleanSpark were each lower by 7%.

For more on what's in store for bitcoin in the month ahead, read our investment outlook here.

— Tanaya Macheel

Consumer sentiment measure hits lowest level since July 2022

Consumer confidence hit its lowest level since mid-2022 in March as fears grew over employment and inflation, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The board's main index registered a reading of 97, below the downwardly revised 103.1 in March and missing the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 103.5. This was the lowest level for the index since July 2022, though board officials said their measure of current conditions is still at a fairly healthy level and the headline index has been in a "relatively narrow range" for more than two years.

Still, there were concerns about where things are headed. Respondents answers reflected that "elevated price levels, especially for food and gas, dominated consumer's concerns, with politics and global conflicts as distant runners-up," said Dana M. Peterson, the board's chief economist.

—Jeff Cox

Employment compensation measure increased more than expected in Q1

Total compensation costs for workers rose by more than expected in the first quarter, providing another sign that inflation pressures are not going away.

The employment cost index increased 1.2% for the period, faster than the 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 1%, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The index is watched by Federal Reserve officials as a sign of underlying inflation.

On a year over year basis, the index for civilian workers rose 4.2% after having increased 4.8% for the same period in 2023.

—Jeff Cox