Asian stock markets rise after US inflation data
Asian markets rise after Wall Street rises on weak inflation data; Japan’s GDP is shrinking.
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Thursday after Wall Street benchmarks closed at record highs on soft inflation data, while investors weighed Japanese GDP data.
The US consumer price index increased by 0.3 percent in April, below the 0.4 percent increase predicted by Dow Jones. US CPI increased by 3.4 percent on an annual basis, in line with market forecasts.
Japan’s first-quarter GDP contracted by 2 percent on an annual basis, above economists’ estimate of 1.5 percent. The latest data could possibly jeopardize the Bank of Japan’s plans to raise interest rates.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.77 percent, while the broader Topix reversed earlier gains to trade 0.18 percent lower.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index reopened with an increase of 0.27 percent after the holiday. Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose 0.1 percent.
South Korean markets also resumed trading after the holiday; Kospi gained 1 percent and the smaller-scale Kosdaq gained 1.04 percent.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index gained 1.7 percent.