Asia-Pacific markets are mostly rising as more data points to a cooling of US inflation

Shares of Japanese retail giant Fast Retailing jumped more than 9% in early trading on Friday, leading the Nikkei 225 to gain.

On Thursday, the company reported a 20.4% increase in revenue to 1.47 trillion yen (11.1 billion), as well as a 4.5% increase in net profit to 153.3 billion yen for the six months ended February.

Fast Retailing also lifted its revenue estimates for the full fiscal year ending in August, from 2.65 trillion yen to 2.68 trillion yen.

Japan’s government approved a plan for the country’s first casino to open in Osaka, the Nikkei reported.

Shares in Orix traded 0.7% higher on Friday, having gained more than 4% in the past five sessions on its joint venture with MGM Resorts to build an integrated resort.

According to the plan, the project aims to open a casino, a convention center as well as other facilities in 2029 with approximately $13 billion in initial investment, the report said.

The government is slated to approve up to three integrated resorts in addition to Osaka, and a bid from Nagasaki prefecture is currently under consideration, the report said.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore kept its monetary policy unchanged on Friday.

In its statement, the central bank said it would “maintain the prevailing rate of appreciation” of its Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate policy.

The central bank controls monetary policy through exchange rate settings, rather than interest rates.

“There will be no change in the breadth and level at which it is centered. This policy stance will continue to reduce imported inflation and help moderate domestic cost pressures,” MAS said.

The central bank said it expects core inflation in Singapore to remain high over the next few months and gradually ease in the second half of the year.

Singapore’s Department of Trade and Industry said gross domestic product grew 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, advance estimates showed.

That is lower than the previous period’s growth of 2.1% and also lower than the Reuters poll of economists which had predicted growth of 0.6% compared with a year ago.

Compared to the previous quarter, the economy fell by 0.7%.

– Jihye Lee

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Shares of a global electric charging company are expected to rise 118% over the next 12 months, according to Bank of America.

Bank of America expects the recent increase in the number of electric cars in Europe to spur growth in demand for charging infrastructure and benefit this global stock’s bottom line.

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– Ganesh Rao

Singapore’s gross domestic product is expected to come in 0.6% higher year-on-year for the first quarter of 2023, according to economists polled by Reuters.

However, GDP for the first quarter is estimated to fall 0.2% compared to the previous quarter.

These estimates were lower than the results of the survey of professional forecasters the Monetary Authority of Singapore released in February, which forecast growth of 1.3% year-on-year in the first quarter.

GDP for the whole of 2023 is expected to grow by 1.9% this year compared to 2022, according to the MAS survey.

— Lim Hui Jie

Excluding food and energy, core wholesale prices fell 0.1% month-on-month in March, or the lowest level since April 2020 when core PPI showed a 0.3% drop.

— Gina Francolla, Sarah Min

The producer price index, an indicator of wholesale inflation, fell 0.5% month-on-month in March – another sign that US inflation may be cooling. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected PPI to remain unchanged from February.

Core PPI, which strips out food and energy prices, fell 0.1%, while economists had forecast a 0.2% increase.

— Fred Imbert

Initial claims came in at 239,000 for the week ending April 8, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones predicted initial claims to come in at 235,000.

This is an increase from 228,000 claims last week.

—Sarah Min

The price of ether climbed above $2,000 on Thursday for the first time in eight months, as investors shrugged off uncertainty surrounding the long-awaited Shanghai upgrade.

Ether advanced more than 5% to $2,007.55, according to Coin Metrics. Bitcoin gained more than 1% to regain $30,000, after falling below it briefly on Wednesday.

After a two-year lockout period, Ethereum stake withdrawals were enabled by the Shanghai upgrade around 6:30 PM ET on April 12.

For more on how investors are reacting to Ethereum’s latest technology transition, check out our full story here. Head to CNBC Pro for a deeper look at what Shanghai means for investors.

– Tanaya Machel