BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday, despite a rebound on Wall Street fueled by an encouraging update on U.S. consumer prices. U.S. futures fell and oil prices were little changed. Chinese markets slipped as investors watched for the next steps in President Donald Trump’s trade war. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong shed 0.7% to 23,426.80, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4% to 3,357.02. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% to 37,014.82. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.1% lower to 2,573.05, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4% to 7,756.10. Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.4%, while India’s Sensex edged 0.1% higher. Bangkok’s SET slipped 0.1%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 5,599.30 after fluctuating between an early gain of 1.3% and a later loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a loss of 0.2% at 41,350.93, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2% to 17,648.45. The inflation report showed overall prices rose less for U.S. consumers last month than economists expected. Companies in the artificial-intelligence industry led gains, bouncing back after AI stocks were hit recently by worries their prices had gone too high. Nvidia climbed 6.4%, trimming its loss for the year so far to 13.8%. Tesla rallied 7.6% for its first back-to-back gain in nearly a month. However, more stocks in the S&P 500 fell than rose, with businesses potentially affected by Trump’s trade war being among the hardest hit. Brown-Forman tumbled 5.1%, and Harley-Davidson sank 5.7%. The European Union targeted U.S. bourbon and motorcycles with tariffs in response to Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. Canada also retaliated with tariffs on U.S. products. The question hanging over Wall Street is how much economic pain Trump will allow through tariffs and other policies. Several U.S. businesses have reported changes in customer behavior. Delta Air Lines sank 3%, and Casey’s General Stores rose 6.2% after reporting stronger-than-expected profit and revenue. The inflation report is helpful for the Federal Reserve, which paused interest rate cuts partly due to concerns about high inflation. In early Thursday dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 11 cents to $67.57 per barrel, and Brent crude gave up 5 cents to $70.90 per barrel. The U.S. dollar fell to 147.88 Japanese yen from 148.25 yen, and the euro rose to $1.0889 from $1.0887. — news from The Associated Press
