Asia-Pacific markets showed mixed trading on Thursday following a subdued U.S. inflation report that helped two out of three Wall Street benchmarks recover from two days of losses. The consumer price index, a broad measure of costs across the U.S. economy, rose by 0.2% month-on-month in February, setting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%. Vishnu Varathan, Mizhuo Bank’s head of macro research in Asia excluding Japan, noted that the latest reading provides “welcome relief.” However, he emphasized that it is premature for the U.S. Federal Reserve to relax at this stage. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.98%, while the broader Topix index climbed 0.82%. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.81%, and the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 0.37%. Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.06%, reversing earlier gains. Investors are closely monitoring Indian stocks after the country’s inflation rate cooled to an unexpected 3.61% in February due to declining vegetable prices. — news from CNBC
