Asian shares advance as investors await US inflation data

BANGKOK — Asian shares are higher after Wall Street logged modest losses, as investors await key U.S. inflation data. Benchmarks rose across the region, but stayed in a relatively narrow range.

Investors will get closely watched U.S. inflation data on Thursday. The focus is on how it might impact ultra-low interest rates and other market-supporting policies.

“There’s a sense of every man for himself ahead of the U.S. inflation data this evening, a data point that has left markets in limbo and seems to be taking an interminably long time to arrive,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a report.

The Labor Department’s release of the consumer price index…