TOKYO- Asian stocks gained on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s tech-led rally overnight after an as-expected reading of US consumer inflation cemented bets for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week.
Japan’s Nikkei topped 40,000 for the first time since mid-October, led by advances in chip-sector shares. The exporter-heavy index also got a boost from a weakening yen, as traders pared bets for a Bank of Japan rate hike next week.
The Australian dollar surged on unexpectedly strong employment data, rebounding from Wednesday’s weakness following a Reuters report that Beijing is considering allowing the yuan to depreciate further next year. China is Australia’s top trading partner and the Aussie is often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan.
The yuan held its ground above a one-week low after the central bank kept the official midpoint for the currency stable.
The tech-heavy Nikkei jumped 1.6 percent as of 0611 GMT, while the broader Topix advanced 1.1 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI soared 1.8 percent, while Taiwan’s benchmark gained 0.6 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leapt 1.8 percent, and mainland blue chips were 1 percent higher.
Overnight, the tech-focused Nasdaq shot up 1.8 percent to close above 20,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.8 percent. Futures for both indexes however, pointed to 0.1 percent declines.
Pan-European STOXX 50 futures were up 0.1 percent.
The US consumer price index rose 0.3 percent last month, the largest gain since April, but exactly as forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and not hot enough to derail Fed officials from normalizing policy, analysts said. “The US CPI print lit a flame in US equity,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
