Asia markets to rise after another more data points to cooling U.S. inflation
Asian markets are up after retail sales data from Japan and Australia came out.
Asia-Pacific stocks are set to open positively on Friday, after another important report confirmed that U.S. Inflation was slowing.
The March producer price indicator, which is a measure for the prices companies pay and can be a good indicator for consumer inflation, fell by 0.5% compared to what economists expected.
The PPI data confirmed Wednesday's consumer price report for March, which showed a 0.1% increase month-over-month. Consumer prices increased by 5% annually, the lowest increase in almost two years.
Futures in Australia for the S&P/ASX 200 index stood at 7,356 compared to its last close of 7,324.1.
The Nikkei contract for Japan in Chicago closed at 28,435 while the counterpart in Osaka closed at 28,370, compared to the Nikkei's closing price of 28,156.97.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng futures pointed to an open higher, with a value of 20,468 as opposed to 20,344.48 when it closed last.
Singapore's central banks will announce their monetary policy decisions, and estimates of the first quarter gross domestic products are also expected.
All three major U.S. indexes rose overnight, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.33% to its highest close in February. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.99% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.14%.
11 Hours Ago
The core PPI dropped 0.1% in March, the first time since April 2020 that it has been negative.
The core PPI reading, excluding food and energy, showed a monthly decline of 0.1% in March. This is the lowest level since April 2021, when the core PPI fell by 0.3%.
-- Gina Francolla, Sarah Min
11 Hours Ago
U.S. Producer Price Index unexpectedly drops in March
The producer price index (a measure of wholesale inflation) fell by 0.5% in March, another sign that U.S. prices may be slowing down. Dow Jones polled economists who expected the PPI to stay unchanged in February.
The Core PPI (which excludes food and energy) fell by 0.1% while economists expected a 0.2% rise.
11 Hours Ago
Unemployment claims are higher than expected
The Labor Department announced Thursday that initial claims for the week ending 8 April totaled 239,000. Dow Jones polled economists who predicted that initial claims would be 235,000.
This is a significant increase from the 228,000 claims filed in the week before.
-- Sarah Min