Greens dominate Asian stock markets
Asian markets are tracking Wall Street’s gains ahead of key inflation data from the US.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street’s overnight gains as the Nasdaq index reached a new record closing high despite strong inflation data.
Producer price index data for April was 0.5 percent, above the 0.3 percent expected by economists participating in the Dow Jones survey. The market’s initial reaction was negative, but stocks later rose as March wholesale prices were revised to decline 0.1 percent.
Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed on Wednesday due to a public holiday.
Investors also evaluated Australia’s annual budget, which was released late Tuesday.
The People’s Bank of China kept the one-year medium-term lending interest rate unchanged at 2.5 percent. Mainland China’s CSI 300 index fell 0.45 percent.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index opened with a 0.44 percent increase.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.75 percent, while the broader Topix index gained 0.53 percent.