Asian shares rise ahead of UK inflation data

Asian equities were largely higher on Wednesday, with U.S. quarterly results boosting sentiment, but traders anticipated British inflation numbers later in the day for hints on how aggressive central banks need to be to combat inflation.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific equities outside Japan rose 0.2%, although further advances were limited by small declines in Chinese stocks. The mainland blue chips declined 0.2%, while the Hang Sang index in Hong Kong dipped 0.1%.

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Stocks rose in line with Wall Street. The Nikkei in Japan climbed 0.4%, the resources-heavy equities in Australia gained 0.4%, and South Korea recovered 0.5%.

The S&P 500 futures in the United States increased 0.8%, while the Nasdaq futures increased 1.3%. Netflix reversed user losses that had weighed on its shares this year and forecasted greater growth in the future, sending shares up 14% in after-hours trade.

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The US dollar was slightly changed on Wednesday, hovering at its lowest level in over two weeks. It did, however, strike a new 32-year high of 149.34 yen overnight before settling at 149.16 despite the danger of Japanese intervention. After falling significantly in the previous session, the sterling gained 0.14% versus the US dollar to trade at $1.1335.

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The United Kingdom, which has been shaken by a catastrophic crisis in the government bond market, will release September inflation figures later in the day, with annual inflation likely running in the double digits of 10% last month.

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This would almost certainly put pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates more aggressively. The Bank of England said yesterday that it will begin selling part of its massive portfolio of British government bonds on November 1, but will not sell any longer-term gilts this year.

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Oil prices regained some ground on Wednesday after falling more than 3% the previous day due to concerns about increased US supply and China’s economic slowdown. Brent crude futures increased 0.9% to $90.87 per barrel, while WTI crude in the United States rose 1.5% to $84.03 per barrel.