Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 1.2% higher, continuing its early-year bounce with gains across every sector. The financial sector was the strongest. Shares of lithium and iron-ore miners also rose, while energy producers advanced amid higher oil prices.

US Market 

U.S. stocks climbed after the latest inflation data showed cooling price pressures for the sixth consecutive month, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track to slow its pace of interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 added 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.6%.

Consumer-price inflation slowed to 6.5% in December, down from 7.1% in November, the Labor Department said. One measure of services inflation – excluding energy services and the cost of owning or renting a home – offered encouragement that tighter monetary-policy is proving effective. Wall Street widely expects the central bank to raise its benchmark rate target by a quarter of a percentage point to a range between 4.5% and 4.75% on Feb. 1.

Commodities

Gold prices settled at their highest in more than eight months after U.S. consumer-price data signaled a further slowdown in inflation at the end of 2022. February gold gained 1.1% to settle at $1,898.80 an ounce on Comex. It settled at the highest for a most-active contract since April, according to FactSet data.

Oil Futures

Oil futures settled higher, with U.S. prices up six sessions in a row to mark their longest stretch of gains since February, finding continued support from prospects for increased crude demand from China, which has been lifting its Covid restrictions. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery rose 1.3% to settle at $78.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. benchmark’s six-session rise was the longest since the six-session rise ended on Feb. 4, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

March Brent crude, the global benchmark, added nearly 1.7% at $84.03 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. “A number of signs, including an increase in crude oil import quotas, suggest a recovery in Chinese oil demand this year,” said Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey, commodities strategists at ING, in a note.

Forex

Major currencies were stronger against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.0739 to highs near US$1.0864 and was near US$1.0850 at the US close. The Aussie dollar lifted from lows near US68.86 cents to highs near US69.84 cents and was near US69.70 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen firmed from near 131.89 yen per US dollar to around JPY128.94 and was near JPY129.20 at the US close.

European Markets

European sharemarkets ended higher on Thursday, hovering near 9-month highs, as US inflation data showed signs of moderating last month. Retail stocks led gains, up 1.9%. The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index lifted 0.6%. And the UK FTSE 100 index was up 0.9%, continuing to push toward an alltime high after surpassing 7,800 points during the trading session for the first time since May 2018.

Asian Markets

Earlier, in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average closed flat ahead of U.S. inflation data. Gains in banking, insurance and nonferrous metals stocks offset losses in real estate, textile and apparel stocks. Chinese shares eked out gains, in line with modest movements in other major Asian markets amid a lack of fresh catalysts and as inflation numbers came in largely within expectations. Telecom and auto makers led gainers. Property stocks and some small-cap consumption stocks weighed on the market. The Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.1% higher, the Shenzhen Composite Index rose by 0.1%, and the ChiNext Price Index was 0.5% higher.