Asian Shares Mixed Ahead Of US Inflation Data

Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as many regional markets resumed trading after a long holiday weekend.

The dollar held steady ahead of U.S. CPI data due out later in the day, expected to show a further slowing of price pressures. Gold and oil were modestly higher in Asian trade.

With the U.S. economy proving resilient in 2023 and the labour market remaining remarkably solid, traders have pushed ack their expectations for rate cuts from March to May or June.

Recent hawkish comments from Fed officials also brought back the ‘higher-for-longer’ theme in interest rates.

Markets in mainland China remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, with trade expected to resume on Monday, Feb. 19, Hong Kong markets are due to resume trading on Feb. 14.

Japanese shares rallied as data showed producer prices in the country edged up 0.2 percent from a year earlier in January, beating the 0.1 percent consensus estimate and up for the 35th consecutive month.

The Nikkei average topped the 38,000 mark for the first time since the asset bubble burst in 1990 before closing 2.89 percent higher at 37,963.97. The broader Topix index climbed 2.12 percent to 2,612.03 led by tech-related shares.

Advantest rallied 2.7 percent and Tokyo Electron jumped 13.3 percent while tech investor SoftBank surged 6.3 percent.

Seoul stocks climbed, with the Kospi average rising 1.12 percent to 2,649.64 ahead of January’s U.S. inflation data due later in the day.

Australian markets fell for a third day running as healthcare stocks lost ground, offsetting gains in the banking and mining sectors.

Biotech giant CSL fell 2.8 percent to extend losses from the previous session after its ambitious phase 3 trail for a heart attack drug ended in failure.

Building products maker James Hardie Industries plummeted 8.5 percent after flagging uncertainty in the housing market.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.15 percent to 7,603.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.16 percent lower at 7,847.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended down 0.16 percent at 11,739.68.

A Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) survey showed that inflation expectations in the country extended their decline on a 12-month and a two-year time frame for the first quarter of 2024.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as key inflation data loomed and a Federal Reserve Bank New York survey showed consumer expectations for one-year and five-year inflation growth were unchanged at 3 percent and 2.5 percent in January.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 ended little changed with a negative bias while the Dow inched up 0.3 percent to a record closing high.

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