Asian shares mostly up after US stocks inch to more records as inflation slows, Oracle soars

MANILA: Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday, buoyed by gains of tech-related stocks after Wall Street inched to more records following a surprisingly encouraging report on inflation and a stunning forecast for growth from Oracle because of the artificial intelligence boom.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.8 per cent to 44,171.03, with tech investment company SoftBank Group's shares jumping nearly 10 per cent in a second straight day of gains.

Data released Thursday showed Japan's producer prices rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year in August from a 2.5 per cent rise the previous month, in line with market expectations. The higher cost of food, transport equipment and machinery contributed to the rise in prices.

In Chinese markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 0.3 per cent to 26,124.85 while the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.1 per cent to 3,855.10.

Shares of chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp added nearly 6 per cent, while Hua Hong Semiconductor rose almost 5 per cent. Cambricon Technologies, often called China's Nvidia, climbed over 10 per cent.

South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.4 per cent to 3,326.15, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.4 per cent to 8,794.30. India's BSE Sensex added less than 0.1 per cent while Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.4 per cent, trimming earlier gains.

“Asia's Thursday tape was the kind of market that looks lively from a distance but flat when you press your nose against the glass. After Wall Street's record sprint, traders in Tokyo and Seoul tried to carry the baton. Still, Hong Kong and Sydney promptly fumbled it, leaving the MSCI Asia-Pacific index pacing on the spot after five straight daily advances,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a market commentary.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent on Wednesday and set an all-time high for a second straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1 per cent after both set records the day before.

Stocks have hit records in large part because Wall Street is expecting the economy to pull off a delicate balancing act: slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but not so much that it causes a recession, all while inflation remains under control.

Many things must go right for that to happen, and an encouraging signal came from a report Wednesday saying inflation at the US wholesale level unexpectedly slowed in August.

A potentially more important report is coming on Thursday, which will show how bad inflation has been for US households.

Traders were already convinced the Fed would deliver its first cut to interest rates of the year at its next meeting, but they needed inflation data until then to be mild enough not to derail those expectations.

On Wall Street, tech stocks led the way after Oracle said AI-related demand is set to send its revenue surging. Oracle stock leapt 35.9 per cent for its best day since 1992, even though it also reported results for the latest quarter that came up just shy of analysts' expectations.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes chips used in AI and other computing, saw its stock that trades in the US climb 3.8 per cent after it said its revenue jumped nearly 34 per cent in August from a year earlier.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Apple, whose drop of 3.2 per cent helped drag the Dow lower and was the heaviest single weight on the S&P 500. Some analysts said its unveiling of new iPhones the day before contained no surprises and may not drive much growth in demand.

In other dealings on Thursday, benchmark US crude shed 22 cents to USD 63.53 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 14 cents to USD 67.35 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 147.43 yen from 147.36 yen. The euro was nearly flat at USD 1.1698 from USD 1.1704.