Oct 2 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

The final quarter of the year is under way, and the sense of

caution that characterized its open on Tuesday could not be

further removed from the ebullience and optimism that marked the

end of the third quarter 24 hours earlier.

Investors fled risky assets like stocks for the safety of

U.S. Treasuries, gold and the dollar as Iran fired a salvo of

ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for

Israel's campaign against Tehran's Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

The S&P 500 and global stocks had their worst day in a

month, the 10-year U.S. bond yield registered its steepest fall

in a month, and oil rose 3%, after being up 5% at one stage.

On top of the escalation of tensions between Israel and

Iran, the sense of gloom hanging over markets on Tuesday was

heightened by the steep decline in a closely-watched tracking

model estimate of U.S. GDP growth.

The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model estimate for third quarter

U.S. GDP growth on Tuesday was cut to 2.5% from 3.1% last week.

The fall of six-tenths of one percent was the biggest decline

since the Q3 tracking estimates was launched in late July.

This will set the tone on Wednesday for markets across Asia.

Chinese markets are closed for Golden Week, and the major

economic releases will be inflation and manufacturing purchasing

managers index data from South Korea, and consumer confidence

from Japan.

Although oil spiked sharply on Tuesday, the deeply negative

year-on-year price of oil is a major reason why inflation around

the world is cooling, and much faster than many economists and

policymakers had expected.

In many cases, like the euro zone, inflation is already at

or even below the 2% target that many central banks aim for.

Figures on Wednesday from Seoul are expected to show that annual

consumer inflation in South Korea eased to 1.9% in September

from 2.0% in August.

That would be the lowest, and also the first time below that

2% threshold, since March 2021.

Japan's markets should be a little calmer on Wednesday, even

though Nikkei futures point to a fall of more than 1% at the

open, as the dust begins to settle on the major political

upheaval of recent days.

Investors are getting used to what they might expect from

new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, once considered a monetary

policy hawk who now appears to have softened his stance.

He said on Tuesday that he hoped the Bank of Japan would

maintain loose monetary policy "as a trend", and that his

administration will carry over the economic policy of former

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and "ensure Japan fully emerges

from deflation."

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to Asian markets on Wednesday:

- South Korea inflation (September)

- South Korea manufacturing PMI (September)

- Japan consumer confidence (September)