BANGKOK — Shares were mixed Friday in Asia after a muddled day on Wall Street, where benchmarks meandered following another encouraging report about inflation.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.6%, catching up on gains after being closed Thursday for a holiday. Hong Kong and Seoul also advanced, while Shanghai and Sydney declined. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices fell.
Markets got a boost Thursday after a report showed inflation at the wholesale level slowed more than economists expected last month. That came a day after a cooler-than-expected reading on inflation at the consumer level which raised hopes among investors that inflation may be close to a peak and that the Federal Reserve will be less aggressive about raising interest rates than feared.
Inflation is still painfully high and the economy has given false signals before that relief was on the way…
