Asian Markets Rise on Wall Street Rally, Encouraged by Inflation Data

Asian Markets Rise on Wall Street Rally

Asian shares mostly rose on Thursday, January 16, 2025, following a strong rally on Wall Street driven by encouraging updates on U.S. inflation.

The Bank of Japan reported that wholesale prices in Japan rose 3.8% in December 2024 compared to a year earlier, adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.

In China, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.2%.

On Wall Street, strong profit reports from major U.S. banks helped launch indexes to their best day in two months. The S&P 500 jumped 1.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.5%.

Bank stocks led the way after several reported stronger profits for the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected.

Treasury yields eased following an update on U.S. inflation. While overall inflation accelerated to 2.9% from 2.7% in November, underlying inflation trends slowed to 3.2% in December.

The Federal Reserve pays more attention to the underlying inflation number, and this data could open the door for interest rate cuts later in the year.

In other dealings, benchmark U.S. crude added 15 cents to $78.86 a barrel, and Brent crude jumped 15 cents to $82.18 a barrel. The U.S. dollar declined to 156.06 Japanese yen, and the euro cost $1.0285.