Nikkei 225 Rallies on Benign US Inflation but Japan's Inflation Story Heats Up

The Nikkei 225 index climbed nearly 2% on Thursday as a benign US inflation report eased pressure on global interest rates.

This led to a rebound in technology and export shares, with the benchmark taking back some of its recent losses.

However, Japan's own inflation story is getting hotter, with producer prices rising 7.2% in July from a year earlier.

Bank of Japan data showed that nonferrous-metal prices surged more than 40% from a year earlier, while chemical-product prices posted double-digit gains.