A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian stocks mostly rose Monday, as investors weighed uncertainties such as the U.S. mid-term elections and China's possible moves to ease coronavirus restrictions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Asian stock markets were buoyed on Tuesday by overnight optimism on Wall Street that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks would ease off on the pace at which interest rates have been hiked to tackle the highest inflation levels in decades.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.17% while Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) and Seoul’s KOSPI index were 0.32% and 0.01% higher respectively. Australian shares rose 0.34%.
A key focus for traders was U.S. inflation data due out at 1330 GMT on Tuesday, with core CPI expected to slow from 6.3% to 6.1% and headline inflation dropping to 7.3%. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen struck a cautious note on Sunday in saying she expected a substantial slowdown in 2023 inflation, but that the U.S. economy remained prone to shocks.
Later this week, the Fed, European Central Bank and the Bank of England are all expected to raise rates by 50 basis points (bps), rather than the aggressive 75 bps hikes they approved earlier in the year.
“Given the very close proximity (of U.S. CPI data) to the FOMC, it clearly has the ability to change the tone of the message … but is highly unlikely to change the headline 50 bps hike,” Deutsche Bank said in a research note.
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