Japan's Inflation Holds Steady Amidst Lower Asia Pacific Markets.

Asia-Pacific markets were lower on Friday as Japan's core inflation for March came in at 3.1%, unchanged from February. Meanwhile, an Oracle executive said that while AI-powered tools can aid business decisions, leaders should still hold the decision-making power. In other news, the first-quarter earnings season has kicked into high gear, with 76.5% of S&P 500 companies reporting above analyst expectations. Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester indicated that interest rates could have a little further to rise this year and stay for a while. Finally, Tesla shares opened Thursday about 8% lower as investors parsed the earnings report that came after the bell Wednesday.