Finance

Asian stocks rise

Asia-Pacific equities were mostly trading higher after the US consumer price index showed inflation falling in December, raising investors’ hopes that the Fed could return to slower rate hikes.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.28% in the first trading hour. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.27 percent and Shenzhen Component 0.31 percent.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.81 percent. Kospi rose 0.86 percent and Kosdaq traded sideways. MSCI’s largest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.69 percent.

The Japanese Nikkei fell 1.26% to 225, which reversed the overall trend. Topix fell 0.35 percent.

China will release trade data for December later in the day.

Overnight in the US, value stock indices closed higher after the latest consumer price index data in the US. The index fell 0.1 percent in December, marking the biggest monthly decline since April 2020.