Global Courant
Melbourne’s skyline at dusk
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Asia-Pacific markets rose across the board even as inflation in the U.S. inflation rate in August came in hotter than expected, at 3.7% compared to economists’ expectations of 3.6% in a Dow Jones survey.
Month-on-month, the consumer price index rose 0.6% in August, in line with expectations. In July, the CPI rose 3.2% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month.
However, excluding volatile food and energy costs, the core CPI rose 4.3%, in line with estimates and down from 4.7% in July. Federal Reserve officials focus more on core as it provides a better indication of where inflation is heading over the long term.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed marginally, ahead of August unemployment figures.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%, while the Topix saw a smaller gain of 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.43%, and the Kosdaq was 0.84% higher.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,042, also pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,009.22.
Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing its second straight day of declines and falling 0.2%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was up 0.12% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.29%.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report
