Asia-Pacific markets rose across the board even as inflation in the U.S. inflation rate in August came in hotter than expected, at 3.7% compared to economists’ expectations of 3.6% in a Dow Jones survey.
Month-on-month, the consumer price index rose 0.6% in August, in line with expectations. In July, the CPI rose 3.2% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month.
However, excluding volatile food and energy costs, the core CPI rose 4.3%, in line with estimates and down from 4.7% in July. Federal Reserve officials focus more on core as it provides a better indication of where inflation is heading over the long term.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.25% as unemployment numbers in August held steady at 3.7%, matching analysts’ forecasts.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.09%, while the Topix saw a smaller gain of 0.71%. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.85%, and the Kosdaq was 1.3% higher.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.3%, but mainland Chinese were in negative territory, with the CSI up 0.3%
Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing its second straight day of declines and falling 0.2%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was up 0.12% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.29%.
