Asian shares tread cautiously after Obama speech

Asian share market sentiment was cautious on Thursday after US President Barack Obama vowed to fight Islamic State militants, while the dollar pushed to fresh six-year highs against the yen. Chinese inflation data pointing to an economy losing momentum stirred concerns but also some optimism among investors hoping for further stimulus to prop up the world's second-largest economy. While overnight gains on Wall Street underpinned shares, the risk-averse mood helped push MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down about 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite Index, however, both edged up after the China inflation data raised the possibility of more stimulus. China's consumer prices cooled more than expected in August, up 2.0 per cent from a year earlier, missing market expectations for 2.2 per cent and down from 2.3 per cent in July. Japan's Nikkei stock average added 0.8 per cent to close at an eight-month high, taking solace from the weaker yen and upbeat data released before the market opened, according to Reuters.