From Yahoo Finance: 2024-05-15 00:48:00

Asian stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday after a rally on Wall Street that took the Nasdaq composite index to a record high. A report showed that prices remain stubbornly high at the wholesale level in the United States, with the producer price index for April reaching 0.5%. The rate of inflation has been increasing in 2024, causing concerns about taming inflation to the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell reassured investors that the central bank won’t likely raise its key interest rate to respond to stubborn inflation, but expressed less confidence in easing inflation. The U.S. will release its monthly update on consumer prices later today, with economists expecting the consumer price index to ease to 3.4% in April year-over-year. In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.4%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.4%, and China’s Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.4%. GameStop and AMC Entertainment stocks surged, but bond yields edged lower at 4.44%. Investors are betting on one or two rate cuts this year. Retail sales report expected to show consumer spending softening. Benchmark U.S. crude added 72 cents to $78.74 a barrel, while the U.S. dollar slipped to 156.38 Japanese yen.



Read more at Yahoo Finance: Asian markets follow Wall Street higher ahead of U.S. key inflation update