Shipping containers are loaded onto an international cargo ship at the Tokyo International Cargo Terminal.
Yoshikazu Tsuno | AFP | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were broadly higher on Thursday after Japan's GDP growth beat expectations, tracking Wall Street stocks that rose overnight after U.S. inflation data came in line with market expectations.
Consumer prices rose 2.9% on a year-over-year basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday, down from 3% in June and the lowest reading since March 2021. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a 0.2% rise from the previous month and a 3% rise on an annualized basis.
Traders in Asia are looking forward to a series of economic data from the region on Thursday, with Japan releasing second-quarter GDP figures and China publishing retail sales, industrial production and urban unemployment data for July.
Japan's second-quarter gross domestic product beat expectations on a quarterly basis, rising 0.8% compared with a 0.5% rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
This was also a reversal of the revised 0.6% decline we saw in the first quarter.
However, on an annual basis, the country's GDP fell for the second straight quarter, by 0.8%, which is more than the first quarter's contraction of 0.9%.
Japan Nikkei 225 Index The Topix index rose 0.2%, while the SBS index rose.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Hangzhou Financial Index futures were at 17,009, below the index's last close of 17,113.36.
South Korean and Indian markets are closed for a public holiday.
The three major US indices rose overnight after the inflation data, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.61%.
The S&P 500 rose 0.38%, posting its fifth straight day of gains, while the Nasdaq Composite reversed earlier losses to close 0.03% higher.
—CNBC's Brian Evans and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
