Commercial and residential buildings are illuminated at dawn in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. South Korea has prepared a financial support program of 75.9 trillion won ($56.97 billion) for companies increasing investment in key sectors as well as small businesses struggling with the impact of high interest rates.
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Asia-Pacific markets rose after Wall Street jumped overnight, following U.S. inflation data that largely met expectations.
The U.S. consumer price index in February climbed 0.4% on the month and 3.2% year over year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a 0.4% increase month on month and 3.1% year over year.
Core inflation, which strips out food and energy from the headline reading, climbed 0.4% in February, compared to a forecast gain of 0.3%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.24%, extending gains from Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded to rise 0.73% in early trade, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.79%.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.48% after its February unemployment rate came in at 2.6%, down from January’s figure of 3%. The small-cap Kosdaq was up 0.1%, on pace for a fourth day of gains.
In contrast, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,067, pointing to a weaker open after the HSI recorded a gain of over 3% and closed at 17,093.5.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rose after the inflation readings, with the S&P500 gaining 1.12% and hitting a new record high of 5,175.27.
The Nasdaq Composite also saw a 1.54% gain as investors plunged back into tech names, sending shares of Nvidia and Oracle up 7% and 11% respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.61%.
— CNBC’s Yun Li and Brian Evans contributed to this report