A Sydney ferry passes the Sydney Opera House and the CBD skyline on May 12, 2020.
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Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Thursday after U.S. consumer price index data for October sparked expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again in December.
CPI was in line with expectations, and the annual inflation rate edged up to 2.6%. Excluding the impact of food and energy price fluctuations, the core consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.3% last month, also in line with expectations.
Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% in October, in line with economists’ expectations, while the number of jobs rose by 15,900 from the previous quarter, below expectations of 25,000.
The participation rate, which measures the proportion of the working-age population currently employed or looking for work, was 67.1%, slightly below the estimate of 67.2%.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index up 0.43%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.82%, and the Topix Index rose 0.92%.
The yen strengthened slightly to 155.36 against the dollar on Thursday, after falling below the 155 benchmark overnight and hovering near its lowest level in more than four months.
The KOSPI rose 0.82% and the Kosdaq rose 1.73%. of the country Markets opened an hour later than usual on Thursday due to the national college entrance examination.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures were at 19,612 points, continuing the multi-day decline that closed at 19,823.45 points on Wednesday.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average After the release of the inflation report, the market closed near the flat line.
The S&P 500 edged up 0.02% to close at 5,985.38 points, and the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.21 points, or 0.11%, to close at 43,958.19 points. The Nasdaq fell 0.26% on the day, closing at 19,230.74 points.
According to inflation data, the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month, and the market expects an 80.8% chance of a 25 percentage point rate cut. CME Group Fed Watch Tool.
—CNBC’s Brian Evans and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
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