Investors are sharpening their focus on inflation, even if markets weren’t all that rattled by Wednesday’s reading from the consumer-price index, as it matched Wall Street’s expectations.

Asian stocks slumped on Wednesday as a sharp rise in U.S. bond yields unnerved investors ahead of key inflation data that could inform the pace of Federal Reserve policy easing. Short-term Treasury yields edged up after jumping to the highest since late July on Tuesday as the market reopened after the Veterans Day holiday,

LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) -World stocks dropped for a second successive day on Wednesday, jolted by another push higher in U.S. Treasury yields ahead of inflation data that could inform the pace of Federal Reserve policy easing.