Asian stocks saw mostly positive performance on Wednesday following a significant rally on Wall Street, which propelled the Nasdaq composite index to a record high. This uptick was partly driven by a report revealing that wholesale prices in the United States rose by 0.5% in April, surpassing forecasts and indicating persistent inflationary pressures.
Investors are anticipating the release of the U.S. consumer price index later on Wednesday, which is expected to show a year-over-year decrease to 3.4% for April.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 both rose by 0.4%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell by 0.4% after the central bank maintained a key lending rate. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.4%, and Bangkok’s SET remained stable. Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.
In other trading, U.S. crude oil prices rose to $78.74 per barrel, while Brent crude increased to $83.03. The U.S. dollar slightly declined against the Japanese yen and the euro.
Fidelity Asian Values Plc (LON:FAS) provides shareholders with a differentiated equity exposure to Asian Markets. Asia is the world’s fastest-growing economic region and the trust looks to capitalise on this by finding good businesses, run by good people and buying them at a good price.