Asian stocks edged up, helped by the technology sector, while the dollar held firm on Wednesday ahead of a key U.S. inflation report and Federal Reserve policy decision that would determine the near-term outlook for interest rates.
European markets are also set to open slightly higher, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures up 0.3% and the FTSE futures gaining 0.4%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures turned 0.1% higher in Asia.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikk slid 0.5%. Technology shares in the region outperformed, with MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan IT index up 1.8%.
Overnight on Wall Street, Apple surged 7% to a record high a day after it unveiled new AI features meant to rekindle demand for iPhones. That helped Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), rise 0.9% and the S&P 500 gain 0.3% to record closing highs.
Tech-heavy Taiwan and South Korean shares followed suit with gains of 1.3% and 0.4%, respectively. Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co jumped 3.2%.
Elsewhere, caution reigned, with still soft price data from China failing to lift sentiment much. Data showed on Wednesday that China’s consumer prices fell 0.1% in May from a month earlier, missing forecasts. On an annual basis, they rose 0.3%.
China’s blue chips wobbled between gains and losses and were last up 0.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.1%, weighed by a 20% plunge in China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group after the unit of developer China Evergrande (3333.HK), warned of losing assets.
Focus is now turning to the U.S. CPI data later in the day, which is forecast to rise a slim 0.1% in May from a month earlier, but with the core up 0.3%.
Source: Reuters
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