Sawt Falasteen - Soft US inflation boosts Asia markets

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at fresh highs Tuesday after US data showed a tamer-than-feared impact on prices from President Donald Trump's tariff blitz.

That boosted hopes among some investors that the US Federal Reserve and its embattled chief Jerome Powell will cut interest rates next month.

"Jerome 'Too Late' Powell must NOW lower the rate," Trump said on Truth Social, while also threatening a "major lawsuit" over renovations to Fed buildings.

"Stocks... took the (inflation) number as confirmation that September is shaping up to be the long-anticipated 'insurance cut' in an economy still treading water above the break-even line," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

Katy Stoves, investment manager at Mattioli Woods, warned however: "This gentle cooling of the economy will certainly not justify a cut of interest rates to one percent as President Donald Trump is calling for."

Early afternoon, the Nikkei 225 index was at 43,359.03, up 1.5 percent, having already hit a new intraday record high of 42,999.71 the previous day.

Oil prices edged lower after OPEC raised its demand forecast for 2026, signalling it expected stronger global activity next year.

Investor focus was also on a summit in Alaska on Friday between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the three-year-old Ukraine war.

In corporate news, AI firm Perplexity offered Google $34.5 billion for its Chrome web browser, which it may have to sell as part of antitrust proceedings.

Intel rose 5.5 percent on Wall Street after CEO Lip-Bu Tan met with Trump, who praised the executive after previously calling for him to step down.

- Key figures at around 0300 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 43,359.03

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.4 percent at 25,234.90

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,683.79

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1684 from $1.1677 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3505 from $1.3501

Dollar/yen: UP at 148.04 yen from 147.77 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.52 pence from 86.45 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $66.01 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $63.02 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 44,458.61 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,147.81 (close)

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