Cityscape image of Sydney, Australia with Harbor Bridge and Sydney skyline during sunset. Vacation and travel in Australia.
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Asia-Pacific markets traded higher Thursday, breaking ranks with Wall Street that fell overnight as a stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation reading diminished prospects of policy easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 hit a record intraday high of 8,575.2, surpassing its previous peak of 8,566.9 scaled on Jan. 31. The index, however, pared gains to trade flat, closing at 8540.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.28% to close at 39,461.47 while the Topix climbed 1.18% to close at 2,765.59. South Korea’s Kospi traded 1.36% higher to end off at 2,583.17 for the day, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.55% to close at 749.28.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.42% as of the last hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.38% to close at 3,905.14.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 rose 0.58%, while the BSE Sensex index was 0.58% higher as of 1:11 p.m. local time.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 tumbled and bond yields spiked after consumer prices rose more than expected in January.
The broad market index slipped 0.27% to end at 6,051.97, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 225.09 points, or 0.5%, to 44,368.56. The Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.03% gain to close at 19,649.95.
The latest inflation data suggests that the Fed may be less likely to resume its rate-cutting campaign soon, as well as raises concerns that the next move could even be a hike.
During his testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted that the latest CPI data serves as a reminder of the Fed’s progress in moving inflation closer to its 2% target, but acknowledged that it is “not quite there yet.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is traveling to the U.S. for talks with President Donald Trump and his administration and is expected to mitigate the threat of reciprocal tariffs as well as artificial intelligence policies.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed to this report.