Markets struggled in Asia on Wednesday following a tepid lead from Wall Street, with inflation and expected interest rate hikes returning to the key focus of concerns as Omicron fears fade for now. While the new Covid-19 variant continues to spread rapidly around the world, forcing governments to maintain containment measures, its apparently milder symptoms have allowed traders to focus more on future economic policies and plans to rein in surging prices. Later Wednesday sees the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December rate meeting, which dealers hope will provide a clearer idea about officials’ policy plans. That is followed by Friday’s jobs data for the last month that could play a key role in their next deliberations. With the bank due to end its vast bond-buying stimulus programme by March, commentators are debating when and how many times the Fed will hike borrowing costs as it tries to overcome inflation running at a pace not seen in decades. “One of the more dovish Fed members, Neil Kashkari, said that he supports two rate increases this year, which might mean pricing in three rate hikes this year might not be enough,” said OANDA’s Edward Moya. And Steve Englander, at Standard Chartered, added, “Earlier we thought that rate hikes wouldn’t be on the table until mid-2022 but the Fed seems to have worked up a consensus to taper faster and hike sooner rather than later.” Still, he remained upbeat about the outlook for markets, saying,