Asia stocks climb tracking Wall St rally; Japan shares set new record

Investing.com-- Asian stock markets climbed on Wednesday in broad-based buying, tracking sharp overnight gains on Wall Street after mild U.S. inflation data fueled Fed rate-cut hopes, while Japan’s Nikkei extended its record-setting rally.

Shares in Sydney fell against the regional trend, as earnings from heavyweight Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) pulled the broader financial sector lower.

Wall Street saw sharp gains on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite hitting fresh record highs. 

U.S. stock index futures also traded higher in Asian trade on Wednesday, with tech-heavy Nasdaq leading gains.

US CPI boosts Fed cut hopes; Japan’s Nikkei surpasses 43,000 points

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 continued its rally, rising 1.5% to 43,347.31 points, reaching another record high.

Japan’s broader TOPIX index also climbed to a record high with its sixth consecutive intraday rise. It traded 1% higher on Wednesday at 3,098.33 points.

Investors were encouraged by the U.S. Consumer Price Index rising just 0.2% in July and an annual increase of 2.7%, figures seen as mild enough to support expectations of a September rate cut.

Markets are now pricing in nearly a 94% probability of a 25 basis point cut next month, according to CME’s Fedwatch tool.

In China, the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3%, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.4%. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.3% on Wednesday.

South Korea’s KOSPI index advanced 0.5%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index jumped 0.8%.

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Futures tied to India’s Nifty 50 were largely unchanged.

Australia stocks retreat from record highs as CBA earnings weigh

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.5% from record high levels as earnings from the top banker, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY), weighed on the financial sector. The bank reported a record full-year profit but saw its shares decline more than 5% to a three-month low on valuation concerns and reliance on volatile trading income.

A day earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.60%, and signaled it had room to cut rates again this year.

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