Related: Despite interest rate cuts, mortgage rates rise for home buyers So it's happened this week. Both the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports showed small increases when many investors and economic experts were expecting flat results or declines.

Economists expect the Fed to announce another quarter-point rate cut in December, after a quarter-point reduction last week and half-point cut in September.

Indexes slipped as traders zeroed in on remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said the central bank is in no hurry to cut rates amid a strong economy.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that interest rates are still expected to decline further, but suggested they might not be that much lower over the next few months.

A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. A warm reading on U.S. producer price inflation in October and hawkish comments by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell weighed on Wall Street and shouldn't distract Asian investors much from focusing on the incoming Trump administration.

"The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said Thursday in Dallas.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the economy is in a good place, with inflation on a sustainable path back to the central bank’s 2% target, and that he expects inflation to continue to come down on a “sometimes bumpy” path.