Asian shares mostly rose on Thursday as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's decision on monetary policy later in the week. The Bank of Japan is not expected to raise its benchmark rate at the conclusion of its meeting on Friday, but concerns persist due to the dollar's strength against the Japanese yen.
The Federal Reserve maintained its main interest rate following its latest policy meeting, leading to a drop in Treasury yields after a report showed a 3.3% increase in U.S. consumer prices from a year earlier, slightly below economists' expectations.
Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped slightly, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 surged and South Korea's Kospi jumped. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained, but the Shanghai Composite declined. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite reached new highs, with smaller companies in the Russell 2000 index leading the market.
The inflation data prompted a rally in various assets, including bitcoin, gold, and copper, as expectations for interest rate cuts grew. Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the need for sustained inflation progress before considering a rate cut, highlighting the importance of incoming data.
Lower interest rates could benefit the housing market, with homebuilders like D.R. Horton and Builders FirstSource seeing gains. Oracle's strong performance, despite weaker profit, was attributed to robust bookings, particularly in artificial intelligence-related contracts.
The AI sector, represented by companies like Nvidia and Apple, continued to drive market growth. Nvidia's market value surpassed $3 trillion, while Apple's stock rose following announcements of AI-related offerings.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude and Brent crude prices experienced slight declines.
