The Fort Worth Press - Asian markets mostly up, tracking Wall Street gains

USD -
AED 3.672995
AFN 68.467373
ALL 88.527536
AMD 387.504623
ANG 1.802375
AOA 936.51263
ARS 965.237102
AUD 1.454006
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.693911
BAM 1.748381
BBD 2.019247
BDT 119.511726
BGN 1.747095
BHD 0.37681
BIF 2899.873507
BMD 1
BND 1.285316
BOB 6.910238
BRL 5.4567
BSD 1.000058
BTN 83.644117
BWP 13.090353
BYN 3.272828
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015868
CAD 1.34398
CDF 2865.50318
CHF 0.848302
CLF 0.03313
CLP 914.190003
CNY 7.0298
CNH 7.02761
COP 4147.42
CRC 517.957314
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 98.571907
CZK 22.442996
DJF 178.093642
DKK 6.66227
DOP 59.965941
DZD 132.173229
EGP 48.524902
ERN 15
ETB 119.265798
EUR 0.89337
FJD 2.18875
FKP 0.761559
GBP 0.747275
GEL 2.725023
GGP 0.761559
GHS 15.748313
GIP 0.761559
GMD 68.501199
GNF 8639.100332
GTQ 7.730851
GYD 209.194323
HKD 7.786395
HNL 24.843671
HRK 6.799011
HTG 132.0091
HUF 352.892501
IDR 15119.4
ILS 3.756895
IMP 0.761559
INR 83.603901
IQD 1310.078801
IRR 42092.4996
ISK 134.450483
JEP 0.761559
JMD 156.619451
JOD 0.708597
JPY 144.251503
KES 129.009747
KGS 84.201387
KHR 4063.023802
KMF 441.95004
KPW 899.999433
KRW 1330.514978
KWD 0.30527
KYD 0.833445
KZT 478.373003
LAK 22083.361269
LBP 89557.58383
LKR 300.875621
LRD 194.014974
LSL 17.216787
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.750432
MAD 9.657749
MDL 17.406424
MGA 4511.789027
MKD 54.966899
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999955
MOP 8.021187
MRU 39.540507
MUR 45.729902
MVR 15.359994
MWK 1733.833847
MXN 19.424098
MYR 4.130997
MZN 63.850537
NAD 17.216787
NGN 1639.260398
NIO 36.803783
NOK 10.43742
NPR 133.829176
NZD 1.583255
OMR 0.384958
PAB 1.000067
PEN 3.766108
PGK 3.973628
PHP 55.955499
PKR 277.847376
PLN 3.80952
PYG 7794.320757
QAR 3.645693
RON 4.445302
RSD 104.601012
RUB 92.656248
RWF 1356.129176
SAR 3.751883
SBD 8.309731
SCR 11.965904
SDG 601.499204
SEK 10.10415
SGD 1.28439
SHP 0.761559
SLE 22.847303
SLL 20969.494858
SOS 571.589482
SRD 30.249023
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.750922
SYP 2512.529936
SZL 17.204897
THB 32.692499
TJS 10.645879
TMT 3.5
TND 3.021361
TOP 2.342105
TRY 34.132965
TTD 6.804783
TWD 31.887496
TZS 2719.999948
UAH 41.238932
UGX 3692.893571
UYU 42.123142
UZS 12755.838641
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 36.765733
VND 24595
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.797463
XAF 586.395798
XAG 0.031303
XAU 0.000376
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.73983
XOF 586.390556
XPF 106.612076
YER 250.298782
ZAR 17.145615
ZMK 9001.202867
ZMW 26.527091
ZWL 321.999592
  • RYCEF

    0.0000

    7.07

    0%

  • RBGPF

    -0.6200

    59.48

    -1.04%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    25.12

    +0.08%

  • RELX

    -0.0450

    48.485

    -0.09%

  • NGG

    0.1150

    70.225

    +0.16%

  • VOD

    0.0150

    10.105

    +0.15%

  • GSK

    -0.1600

    40.82

    -0.39%

  • RIO

    0.4400

    67.86

    +0.65%

  • BP

    -0.8500

    31.98

    -2.66%

  • BTI

    -0.0550

    38.045

    -0.14%

  • SCS

    -0.1200

    13

    -0.92%

  • CMSD

    -0.1100

    25.01

    -0.44%

  • AZN

    0.5750

    77.445

    +0.74%

  • BCC

    -2.6550

    139.125

    -1.91%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.4

    -0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.2450

    34.885

    -0.7%

Asian markets mostly up, tracking Wall Street gains
Asian markets mostly up, tracking Wall Street gains / Photo: © AFP

Asian markets mostly up, tracking Wall Street gains

Most Asian markets rose Thursday, tracking a rebound in Europe and New York and following positive remarks from a senior Federal Reserve official that inflation was headed in the right direction.

Text size:

Figures on Tuesday showing the US consumer price index slowed less than expected in January dealt a body blow to hopes of an early interest rate cut and sent Asia indices mostly lower.

But investors returned to buying on expectations borrowing costs will be reduced this year, while traders also cheered strong earnings releases that soothed any worries about companies' bottom lines.

"Over time we think it will become clear that January was more one-off vs a new CPI trend," 22V Research strategists led by Dennis DeBusschere said.

Traders will be closely following the release of the producer price index, which is due at the end of the week.

Stephen Innes, of SPI Asset Management, added that the US stock market's rebound "offers some respite following the bolt from the blue delivered by inflation figures" on Tuesday.

"Notwithstanding inflation, which is still too high versus arbitrarily defined targets, the US macro picture continues evolving consistently with a soft landing," he added.

The Fed's vice chair for supervision, Michael Barr, said the central bank should be "careful" about the timing of interest rate cuts but added that he was "confident" inflation was heading back to the target of two percent.

"We need to see continued good data before we can begin the process of reducing the federal funds rate," Barr said.

In Tokyo, official data released Thursday showed Germany overtook Japan last year as the world's third-biggest economy, primarily because of a sharp fall in the yen.

Japan's economy grew 1.9 percent last year, though it contracted for a second straight quarter in October-December, pushing it into a technical recession.

Japan's nominal 2023 gross domestic product in dollar terms was $4.2 trillion, government data showed, compared with $4.5 trillion for Germany, according to figures revealed last month.

Still, Tokyo's Nikkei rose, while there were also gains in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and Manila.

Taipei's Taiex stocks hit an intraday record high, fuelled by a surge in chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) after it reported strong sales that lifted optimism for the sector and demand for chips used for artificial intelligence.

The Taiex jumped as much as 3.5 percent at the opening, surpassing a January 2022 peak, as traders returned from the Lunar New Year holiday.

"The migration to bigger large language models will boost demand for higher-end chips, which benefits TSMC's leading-edge foundry business," according to a note from analysts including Charlie Chan.

Jakarta stocks also rallied after defense minister Prabowo Subianto declared himself the winner in Indonesia's general election, a result observers said indicated policy continuity.

Wellington and Bangkok dipped, while Shanghai was closed for the Lunar New Year break.

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.06 percent at 38,103.27

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.35 percent at 15,824.21

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0733 from $1.0730 on Wednesday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.48 yen from 150.60 yen

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2563 from $1.2564

Euro/pound: UP at 85.39 pence from 85.37 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $76.31 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $81.28 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 38,424.27 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 7,568.40 (close)

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story --

L.Rodriguez--TFWP