Asian shares up, Tokyo lifted by inflation data

Asian markets edged higher in quiet trade on Friday, with Wall Street providing a tepid lead following a mixed batch of economic indicators, while Tokyo was buoyed by another pick-up in Japanese inflation. With few major catalysts to drive business, investors are keeping an eye on the release next week of key data from China, the United States and Japan. Tokyo rose 0.50 percent, or 73.14 points, to end at 14,696.03, Sydney closed up 0.31 percent, 16.8 points, at 5,366.9 and Seoul added 0.15 percent, or 3.03 points, to 1,981.00. In the afternoon Hong Kong was 1.21 percent higher and Shanghai added 0.16 percent. Official Japanese figures showed inflation hit 1.3 percent in February, in line with the central bank's target and a ninth consecutive rise in prices after two decades of punishing deflation. Even excluding volatile energy prices and foodstuffs, the figure came in at 0.8 percent. The government also said the jobless rate had fallen to a six-year low of 3.6 percent. However, retail sales came in surprisingly weak, confounding expectations of a surge from shoppers ahead of a controversial sales tax that kicks in on April 1. The latest inflation figures provided some early support to the yen, as they reduced the likelihood of any fresh monetary easing from the Bank of Japan. But Daisuke Uno, strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, said such measures were unlikely anyway, according to AFP.