Asia-Pacific stocks rise after soft U.S. inflation report pushes two Wall Street benchmarks up
Asia-Pacific markets are primed to rise on Thursday after a soft inflation report in the U.S. helped two of the three benchmarks on Wall Street reverse course from two days of losses.
The consumer price index — a broad-based measure of costs across the U.S. economy — increased 0.2% month-on-month in February, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.32% higher, reversing course from losses in the previous two sessions.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 picked up 1.22% at the open, while the broader Topix index rose 0.96%.
South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.70% in early trade, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.47%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index stood at 23,633, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 23,600.31.
Source: CNBC
