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The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters is seen beyond the cherry blossoms in Tokyo on March 20, 2023.
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose as investors assessed Japan’s December inflation numbers — the last key data before the Bank of Japan’s first monetary policy meeting of 2023.
The world’s third-largest economy saw headline inflation rate hit its lowest level since June 2022, cooling to 2.6% from 2.8% in November.
Japan’s core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — also fell to 2.3% from November’s 2.5%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.
The Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Jan. 22, and will announce its decision the next day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded after two straight days of losses, climbing 1.4%, while the Topix climbed 0.98%.
South Korea’s Kospi also rose 1.14%, and the small-cap Kosdaq saw a larger gain of 1.37%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.32%, recovering after three straight days of losses.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 15,390 pointing to a flat open compared with the HSI’s last close of 15,391.79.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rebounded, powered by tech companies.
Most notably, Apple gained 3.3% after Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy, calling for more than 20% upside over the next 12 months. The tech giant had its best day since May 5, 2023.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.54%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.88% to end at just 15.62 points from its closing record of 4,796.56.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted the largest gain, jumping 1.35%.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report
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