Daily Times

Asian markets fell Friday as traders struggled to build on Wall Street’s positive lead, with hopes for a June interest rate cut fading, while earnings season gets underway in the United States amid optimism for companies’ profit outlooks.

Tech titans helped drive gains in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 after producer price index data broadly met expectations, tempering worries about inflation following Wednesday’s figures showing a third successive upside miss in consumer prices.

The CPI figures followed a series of indicators suggesting the world’s number one economy remained resilient and the jobs market strong despite interest rates sitting at two-decade highs and inflation still well above the Federal Reserve’s target.

That has seen investors trim their rate cut bets from six at the start of the year to two now, while former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers has even warned a hike could not be ruled out. Central bank officials were reluctant to give their full backing to any reductions soon. New York Fed chief John Williams said “tremendous progress” had been made in the battle against inflation but there was little need to move in the “very near term”, while Richmond boss Thomas Barkin added that decision-makers could take their time. Their Boston counterpart Susan Collins said the latest data “implies that less easing of policy this year than previously thought may be warranted”. While US traders pounced on the producer price numbers, Michael Shaoul at Marketfield Asset Management said: “Although we understand the relief with which this report will be received, there is nothing very encouraging contained within it — and the best that can be said is that there was ‘no new bad news’ either.”