Asian stocks and U.S. equity futures advanced Wednesday, amid concerns over spiralling inflation and aggravating geopolitics.
Japanese, South Korean and Australian equities rose. U.S. shares erased a rally to end lower on Tuesday, after the U.S. headline inflation of 8.5% spiked to a four-decade high. In India, retail inflation spiked to 6.95% in March, raising the spectre of a imminent repo rate hike.
The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early barometer of India’s benchmark Nifty 50, was little changed at 17,571 points as of 6:40 a.m.
Crude oil prices rose with West Texas Intermediate topping $100 a barrel after Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled that the invasion of Ukraine will continue and China partially eased covid-related curbs. Elsewhere, bitcoin hovered around $39,800.
