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BEIJING, June 14 (AP) Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday after cooling U.S. inflation data stoked hopes the Federal Reserve would delay a possible rate hike.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney rose.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.7% to a 14-month high after government data on Tuesday showed U.S. consumer inflation fell to 4% in May from 4.9% the previous month. It was less than half the peak of 9.1% in June last year, but still double the Fed’s 2% target.
That boosted hopes that the Fed will avoid announcing another rate hike at its monthly meeting that ends on Wednesday. Two Fed board members have previously said the U.S. central bank should hold off on raising rates again while it studies the impact of previous hikes.
“The Fed will see this as a window of opportunity to pause rate hikes,” Clifford Bennett at ACY Securities said in a note.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 percent to 3,243.66, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 33,338.37. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2% to 19,562.35.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2 percent to 2,633.34, while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent to 7,158.70.
New Zealand fell, while Singapore and Bangkok rose.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose to 4,369.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent to 34,212.12 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8 percent to 13,573.32.
Traders hope the U.S. economy can avoid recession even if the Federal Reserve hikes its benchmark lending rate to a 16-year high to curb soaring inflation by cooling business activity.
Inflation data on Tuesday prompted traders to boost bets that the Federal Reserve will announce no change in interest rates. It would be the first monthly meeting without a rate hike in more than a year.
Previous rate hikes led to a contraction in manufacturing and the failure of three high-profile banks.
Nvidia rose 3.9 percent, joining other tech stocks as the strongest force behind the S&P 500’s gains. Technology stocks and other high-growth stocks are seen as the biggest beneficiaries if the Fed eases into raising interest rates.
Wall Street’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence has further fueled Nvidia’s development.
Four out of five stocks in the S&P 500 rose on Tuesday.
Raw materials producers and industrial companies were among the biggest gainers on hopes of an economic recovery. Mining company Freeport-McMoRan rose 5.3 percent.
Many traders expect the Fed to resume rate hikes in July, even if it holds steady this week.
Zions Bancorp. fell 1.6 percent after the company appeared to cut its forecast for upcoming net interest income in an investor presentation.
This year, many investors are predicting a recession will hit in the third quarter, two weeks away. However, a resilient job market has supported economic activity.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude fell 23 cents to $69.19 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.30 to $69.42 on Tuesday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trades, fell 19 cents to $74.10 a barrel in London. It rose $2.45 to $74.29 in the previous session.
The dollar fell to 140.08 yen from 140.29 yen on Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.0795 from $1.0790. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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