Most Asian stocks advanced on Friday as traders kept the Federal Reserve's rate cut bets alive, even as the latest inflation print came in higher than expected.
Benchmarks in Hong Kong and Australia led the advance while Japanese stocks edged lower. The Hang Seng was 1.07% lower at 17,421, and the S&P ASX 200 was up 0.22% at 8,093 as of 8:43 a.m.
The producer price index in the US picked up slightly in August after the previous month's numbers were revised lower. The August producer prices rose 0.2% month-on-month against the estimate of 0.1%. The jobless claims stood at 2.30 lakh for the week-ended Sept. 7 versus the estimate of 2.26 lakh.
Swap contracts priced in slightly higher odds of a half-point Fed reduction after a Wall Street Journal report said policymakers were considering whether to cut by 25 or 50 basis points, Bloomberg reported.
Thursday's producer price index data comes after the US core consumer prices saw an unexpected uptick in August, primarily driven by a significant increase in housing costs.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is set to report its GDP on Friday, which is expected to slow down on a high base. Japan is scheduled to publish industrial production data during the session.
Both mega and small caps in the US outperformed the broader market as the equity benchmarks ended higher after declining early in session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.75% and 1.00%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.58%. Treasury 10-year yields advanced three basis points to 3.68%.
Brent crude was trading 0.32% higher at $72.20 a barrel as of 8:44 a.m. IST. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.39% at 69.24.
Key Levels
US Dollar Index at 101.10.
US 10-year bond yield at 3.65%.
Brent crude up 0.32% at $72.20 per barrel.
Bitcoin was down 0.19% at $58,086.63.
Gold was up 0.29% at $2,565.43 an ounce.
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