Markets in Asia-Pacific rose Friday as investors digested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest comments as he vowed to raise rates to tackle inflation "until the job is done," reports CNBC.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.53% to close at 28,214.75 and the Topix ticked up 0.4% to 1,965.53. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 also rose 0.66%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed 2.69% higher at 19,362.25 and its tech index also climbed 2.6%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.82% to close at 3,262.05 and the Shenzhen Component advanced 1.11% to 11,877.79.
China's consumer inflation came in at 2.5% in August, lower than the 2.7% recorded in July.
"China's weak growth outlook and accommodative monetary policy stance against the aggressive tightening underway by the FOMC will keep USD/CNH well supported," Commonwealth Bank of Australia's FX strategist Kristina Clifton said in a note, referring to the offshore yuan.
Meanwhile, currencies in the Asia-Pacific strengthened as the U.S. dollar index hovered around 108.5 after peaking earlier in the week.
The Australian dollar rose 1.63% to 0.686, recovering from the previous session's losses which followed Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe's dovish remarks.
The Japanese yen hovered around 142 against the dollar. The Korean won was at 1,373.99. The offshore Chinese yuan was 6.923.
Goldman Sachs says it expects the People's Bank of China to cut its reserve requirement ratio by 25 basis points in the fourth quarter on softer-than-expected inflation readings.
That predicted cut would help offset the large amount of maturing MLF loans, the bank said in a note.
The bank's economists including Xinquan Chen said in a note that they expect China's consumer inflation to stay moderate, while producer prices continue to fall in coming months.
