Shipping containers are loaded onto an international freighter at the international cargo terminal in Tokyo.
Yoshikazu Tsuno | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday after Wall Street benchmarks closed at record highs overnight on soft inflation data, while investors assessed Japan GDP data.
U.S. consumer price index rose 0.3% in April, below the 0.4% rise predicted by the Dow Jones. U.S. CPI climbed 3.4% year over year, in line with market estimates.
Japan’s first-quarter GDP contracted at an annualized rate of 2%, more than the 1.5% expected in a Reuters poll. The latest data could likely jeopardize the Bank of Japan’s plans to raise interest rates.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.39% to end at 38,920.26, while the broader Topix closed 0.24% higher at 2,737.54.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index reopened after a holiday to rise 0.18%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 index gained 0.71%.
South Korea’s markets also resumed trading after a holiday, with the Kospi rising 0.75% and the smaller-cap Kosdaq adding 0.8%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index gained 1.65% to close at 7,881.30.
Overnight, Wall Street’s main indexes closed at record highs on Wednesday after data showed CPI rose at a slower-than-expected pace in April.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 349.89 points, or 0.88%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.17%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.40%.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.