Asian Shares Rise on US CPI, Japan Yields Rise – Europe Market Wrap

Asian equities followed Wall Street’s advances as falling US inflation supported the case for Fed rate cuts. Japan’s 10-year bond yields have risen to multi-decade highs after the BoJ boosted borrowing costs as expected.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of stocks rose 0.5%, with IT titans such as SoftBank and Tencent leading the way. Gains in IT stocks were aided by a positive outlook from major Micron, which eased concerns about AI spending and valuations. US equities futures were barely changed on Friday, while European prices dipped.

Despite limitations about data related to the current government shutdown, US inflation numbers boosted risk sentiment. According to the report, core consumer prices grew in November at the weakest annual rate since early 2021.

The fall in US inflation figures coincided with significant data concerns. The BLS was unable to gather prices throughout October due to the brief government shutdown, and sampling began later than usual in November.

Despite tensions over a US naval blockade of sanctioned vessels calling on Venezuela, oil futures fell for the second week in a row, pushed down by expectations of a worldwide excess. Brent has dropped more than 2% this week.