SYDNEY – Asia’s stock indexes were mostly higher Tuesday after a tech-led surge on Wall Street as investors await the next set of U.S inflation numbers due this week, which could hint at when the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.5 percent, after US stocks ended the previous session with gains.
Australian shares were up 1.17 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index was trading 1.6 percent higher.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 bounced higher after November retail sales grew by 2 percent month on month following a 0.2 percent contraction in October. The result was higher than the 1.2 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.26 percent while China’s bluechip CSI300 Index fell 0.21 percent.
The dollar dropped 0.21 percent against the yen to 143.9. It is still some distance from its high this year of 145.98 on Jan 5.
The yen was little changed after Tokyo core inflation data slowed for the second month in December, new data showed on Tuesday.
The result is expected to take some pressure that might encourage the Bank of Japan to quickly exit ultra-loose monetary policy.
The European single currency was up 0.1 percent at $1.0957, having lost 0.72 percent in a month, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of other major trading partners, was down at 102.19.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.58 percent on Monday, the S&P500 gained 1.41 percent, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.2 percent following a strong surge in U.S tech stocks.
In early trade Tuesday, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 4.0267 percent compared with its US close of 4.002 percent on Monday.
The two-year yield, which rises with traders’ expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 4.3746 percent, compared with a US close of 4.345 percent.
Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Monday that with inflation still above the central bank’s 2 percent target, his bias was towards keeping monetary policy tight.
