Hong Kong set to rebound after hitting a one-month low, Asia markets fall across the board

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

Asia-Pacific markets fell across the board on Thursday ahead of key economic data from the region.

China will release its November purchasing managers' index reading later in the day, while Japan saw its October retail sales climb lower than expected at 4.2% year-on-year.

South Korea's industrial output numbers surprised the market, registering a 3.5% fall compared to expectations of a 0.5% rise from economists polled by Reuters. The country will also see its central bank announce its rate decision today.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched down marginally.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.25% and extended its three-day losing streak, with the Topix also down by 0.14%.

South Korea's Kospi also fell 0.29%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was marginally above the flatline.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 17,108, pointing to a rebound after the HSI hit a one month low on Monday and closed at 16,993.44.

On Wednesday in the U.S., all three major indexes mainly remained near the flat line, even as the U.S. economy grew more than expected.

GDP in the third quarter accelerated at a 5.2% annualized pace , better than the 5% Dow Jones forecast and above the initial estimate of 4.9%.

The 30-stock Dow was up 0.04%, while the S&P 500 ticked down by 0.09% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped by 0.16%.

— CNBC's Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed to this report

U.S. GDP rises at 5.2% pace in Q3, more than expected

Gross domestic product grew at an even stronger than expected pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday.

GDP, a measure of all goods and services produced during the July-through-September period, accelerated at 5.2% annualized pace , better than the 5% Dow Jones forecast and above the initial estimate of 4.9%. This was the second of three readings on the key economic number.

The upgrade came mostly from revisions to nonresidential fixed investment and government spending, while consumer expenditures were revised lower.

–Jeff Cox

Bill Ackman says Fed rate cuts could come sooner than expected

Pershing Square's Bill Ackman said the Federal Reserve could start cutting rates as soon as the first quarter of 2024, according to Bloomberg's David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations.

"We're betting that the Federal Reserve is going to have to cut rates more quickly than people expect," Ackman said in an upcoming episode of the show. "That's the current macro bet that we have on."

Market pricing projects a 78% chance that the Fed will start cutting in May and lop a full percentage off the fed funds rate by the end of 2024, according to the CME Group's FedWatch gauge.

The hedge fund manager revealed last month that he covered his bet against long-term Treasurys, believing that investors may increasingly buy bonds as a safe haven because of growing geopolitical risks.

— Yun Li

Oil gains momentum ahead of OPEC meeting

Oil prices settled more than 1% higher on Wednesday as futures contracts gain momentum ahead of key OPEC meeting tomorrow.

The West Texas Intermediate crude contract for January rose $1.45, or 1.9%, to settle at $77.86 a barrel, while the Brent crude contract for January rose $1.42, or 1.74%, to settle at $83.10 a barrel.

Oil has rallied about 4% since Monday's close.

OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, are set to hold a virtual meeting tomorrow on production cuts. Sources told Reuters that deeper cuts as well as rolling over current cuts are both on the table.

Meanwhile, a storm on the Black Sea has disrupted oil production in Kazakhstan. The Central Asian nation's three largest oilfields slashed production by more than 50% due to the storms.

The storms disrupted loadings at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal that Kazakhstan uses to export.

- Spencer Kimball

Fed's Beige Book sees slowing activity, easing price increases

Economic activity has slowed broadly over the past six weeks, while labor demand also has backed off and price increases have eased, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its periodic "Beige Book" summary .

The report showed that consumers showed more "price sensitivity." In the jobs market, firms reported an easier time finding labor and were more comfortable laying off underperformers.

On inflation, the report said prices for construction materials declined, though utilities and insurance costs rose. In general, the report saw businesses saying they see "moderate" price increase continuing into 2024.

—Jeff Cox