Asia markets fall as U.S. inflation report shadowed by Fed expecting a recession

Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Thursday, after minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's March meeting revealed that Fed officials believe the U.S. is entering a recession as a result of the banking crisis.

In the summary of the meeting, it was stated: "Given the staff's assessment of potential economic effects from the recent banking sector developments, their projections at the time the meeting in March included a mild depression starting later this year with a recovery occurring over the next two years."

Wall Street lost gains after the Fed's comments, which came in response to the U.S. Consumer Price Index report showing that inflation had cooled down in March.

CPI increased 0.1% in the month of February against Dow Jones' estimate of 0.2%. It also rose 5% compared to a year earlier versus Dow Jones' estimate. The core CPI, excluding food and energy rose by 0.4% on an annualized basis and 5.6% excluding the estimate.

The Kospi index fell 0.43%, and the Kosdaq dropped 0.47% in the early trading.

The Nikkei fell by 0.3% in Japan, and the Topix was down 0.23%.

Investors are awaiting China's trade statistics. Futures linked to Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index pointed to a lower opening.

Stocks ended lower overnight on Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrial Average erased earlier gains after the U.S. Inflation Report and lost 0.11%. The S&P500 fell by 0.41%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.85%.

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Warren Buffett claims he couldn't run the Federal Reserve better than Jerome Powell

Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's Chairman and CEO, said that he didn't believe he could manage the Federal Reserve better than Jerome Powell. Powell's aggressive campaign of rate hikes has been criticized by those who believe he waited too long before tackling rising inflation.

Buffett said on CNBC’s "Squawk Box" Wednesday that you have a responsibility to the American people.

"It does not mean that you are able to stop recessions or turn bad loans into better loans. It does mean, however, that the system must continue to function. "The system was on the verge of stopping," he continued.

In March 2020, he said, "Thank goodness, you know Jay Powell was there."