Asian Stocks Mixed as Wall Street Reversal Offsets Soft US Inflation Data

Asian stock markets opened October on Thursday with little direction as investors weighed a sharp late reversal on Wall Street that offset softer US inflation data.

The Hang Seng futures fell 0.7%, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.62%. Japan's benchmarks were split, with the Nikkei 225 climbing 1.28% and the broader Topix slipping 0.56%.

US inflation data showed the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index rose 0.3% month-on-month in August, matching forecasts. However, annual PCE inflation came in at 3.4%, well below the 3.7% economists had projected.

The US Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, the PCE index, cut the likelihood of an interest rate rise at the Fed's October meeting, with money markets now seeing less than a 40% chance of a hike.