Aug 13 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Markets looked a whole lot more placid on Monday, a week after

equities plunged and volatility measures spiked, but

intensifying geopolitical tensions and looming economic data

threaten to disrupt the relative calm.

The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged

on the day, as gains in Nvidia ( NVDA ) and other tech stocks

offset declines in most other sectors. The index is now down

5.7% from its July all-time high, recovering after being down

8.5% from its peak a week ago. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the

globe also was little changed on Monday.

The Cboe volatility index was last at 20.71 points,

falling during the session to its lowest point since the start

of the month. The VIX a week ago logged its largest ever

intraday jump and closed at over 38 points, its highest closing

level since October 2020.

Part of Monday's calm may have stemmed from a market holiday

in Japan, with the country's Nikkei index and yen

currency at the center of the latest global storm in

markets.

But investors were looking ahead: Wednesday's U.S. consumer

price index report will give a crucial read on inflation with

markets now worried that an overly depressed CPI number will fan

fears of a downturn. A weaker-than-expected jobs report was one

of the catalysts for the recent market selloff, as some

investors suspect the Fed may be too late in cutting interest

rates.

Tuesday's report on U.S. producer prices provides an

inflation-data appetizer ahead of Wednesday's main course.

Inflation also was top of mind in India, where data on

Monday showed retail inflation fell in July to a near five-year

low.

Tensions in the Middle East were keeping markets edgy. The

U.S. Defense Department said over the weekend it had ordered the

deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East as

the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies

after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Oil prices jumped on Monday, with U.S. crude settling

up over 4%, on concerns the conflict would tighten global crude

supplies. The U.S. presidential race was also a focus.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to markets on Tuesday:

- Singapore GDP (Q2)

- Japan corporate goods price index (July)

- US producer price index (July)