Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher ahead of US inflation report
Asian shares have gained in morning trading, as investors awaited an update on U.S. consumer inflation that might help set the Federal Reserve's policy on interest rates
TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday, as investors awaited an update on U.S. consumer prices.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 2.9% to 37,961.48. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost earlier gains, edging 0.2% lower to 7,603.60. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1% to 2,647.03.
Markets were closed in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Japan’s producer price index data showed a 0.2% increase from a year ago, while remaining flat month-on-month. That may relieve pressure on the central bank to alter its longstanding ultra-lax monetary policy and raise its benchmark interest rate from minus 0.1%.
“The tame number may still suggest limited passthrough to consumer prices and may offer room for the Bank of Japan to keep to its wait-and-see for now,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG, said in a report.
The next big event for markets could be Tuesday’s update on inflation across the United States, which economists expect to show a drop back below the 3% level.
On Monday, Wall Street held relatively steady following its latest record-setting week. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 5,021.84, after closing Friday above the 5,000 level for the first time.
Most of the stocks in the index rose, but losses for Microsoft and other tech companies weighed on the index.
The weakness for tech also pulled the Nasdaq composite 0.3% lower to 15,942.55. Earlier in the day, It had been hovering just above its all-time closing high set in 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, rose 0.3% to 38.797.38 to set its latest record.
Conditions
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