A Bank of Korea sign is displayed on top of the central bank's headquarters building in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, August 16, 2018. South Korea's central bank raised interest rates in its second consecutive meeting on Thursday to combat consumer inflation falling from 13%. The company further raised its forecast that prices will rise to the highest level since 2008.
Jiang Chong | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Friday, beating Wall Street's overnight trade and rankings where major indexes fell as investors digested a sticky U.S. inflation report.
Asian investors praised the Bank of Korea's interest rate decisions, with the Bank of Korea lowering its base interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25%, the first rate cut since 2020. The decision marks the end of a long, multi-year tightening cycle. In 2023, interest rates will reach their highest level in 15 years.
The decision came as South Korea's inflation rate fell to 1.6% in September, the lowest level since early 2021 and below the central bank's medium-term target of 2%.
Mainland China's CSI 300 blue-chip index fell 2.1% as the stimulus-driven rally continued to lose momentum. Hong Kong markets were closed on Friday due to a public holiday.
The Chinese Ministry of Finance hold a press conference on Saturday 10 a.m. local time. The much-awaited briefing is expected to announce new fiscal stimulus measures as the Chinese government seeks to revitalize the economy.
Oil prices fell after rising more than 3% on Thursday as households and car owners increased their fuel usage ahead of Hurricane Milton. Middle East conflict could increase risk to Iranian oil facilities.
North Sea Brent futures fell 0.35% to $79.11 per barrel. west texas intermediate Crude oil prices fell by 0.34% to $75.6 per barrel.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average At the closing price, it rose 0.7%, and the comprehensive index TOPIX rose 0.4%.
South Korean blue-chip stock Kospi rose 0.6%, and small-cap stock Kosdaq rose 0.1%.
australian S&P/ASX 200 It fell 0.1%.
In U.S. overnight trading, the S&P 500 fell 0.21% to settle at 5,780.05, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.14% to end at 42,454.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.05% to end at 18,282.05.
The US consumer price index rose 0.2% from the previous month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 2.4% compared to the previous year. Inflation rose 0.1% from the previous month, beating expectations of 2.3% from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll.
The annual inflation rate was the lowest since February 2021, but concerns grew that the U.S. Federal Reserve would slow the pace of future interest rate cuts.
— CNBC's Samantha Soobin and Ha-Kyung Kim contributed to this report.
