An employee works at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, on January 13, 2022.
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Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose on Friday, taking the lead on Wall Street overnight as investors brushed off a strong inflation report.
the Nikkei 225 in Japan it was 3.25% higher at 27,090.76, while the Topix gained 2.35% to 1,898.19. Japan’s yen tumbled to its lowest levels against the US dollar since 1990 overnight before paring losses, and is still trading at 147 levels.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 1.93% in the last trading hour after rising 3.9% earlier in the session, and the Hang Seng Tech Index was up 2.16%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.84% to 3,071.99 and the Shenzhen Component rose 2.81% to 11,121.72.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 it gained 1.75% to 6,758.80. South Korea Kospi advanced 2.3% to 2,212.55 and the Kosdaq rose 4.09% to 678.24. MSCI’s broader index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan rose 2.15%.
Singapore’s GDP grew by 4.4% in the third quarter and it is expected to further tighten its monetary policy.
In the US, inflation data showed that consumer prices rose more than expected in September, with the CPI rising 0.4% from August and 8.2% from September last year. Core inflation accelerated further in September.
Stocks had a volatile session but eventually recovered to close higher, with every major index gaining more than 2%. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 1,500 points from its lows to the highest level on Thursday in the US.
“Equity investors apparently decided that stronger US inflation [report] today still does not negate expectations of a sharp price decline in the future,” Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at National Australia Bank, wrote in a note on Friday. He added that the rally could have been the result of short covering.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Carmen Reinicke and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
