Stock market today: Asian shares are trading mixed as investors gauge inflation data

TOKYO: Asian shares traded mixed on Tuesday following a rally on Wall Street that recouped some losses from the market's worst week in nearly a year and a half.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose nearly 0.2% in afternoon trading to 36,282.25. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 8,021.10, while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3% to 2,529.02. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4% to 17,270.12, and the Shanghai Composite declined 0.2% to 2,729.86.

Investor attention is now turning to the latest monthly updates on inflation at the consumer and wholesale levels, due later in the week.

The United States Federal Reserve has been using high interest rates to slow the economy and curb inflation. It is expected to start lowering rates later in September, which would ease economic pressure as it shifts focus to protecting the job market and avoiding a recession.

On Monday, Wall Street saw the S&P 500 rally 1.2% to 5,471.05, though it did not recoup all of its losses from Friday or the rest of the four-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% to 40,829.59, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2% to 16,884.60.

Boeing climbed 3.4% after reaching a tentative deal with its largest union on a new contract that, if ratified, will avoid a strike that threatened to halt aircraft production by the end of the week. Boeing stated that 33,000 workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would receive pay raises of 25% over the four-year contract.

Nvidia and other Big Tech companies also briefly returned to their leading market positions. Nvidia climbed 3.5%, driving the S&P 500 upward, after a 13.9% tumble the previous week.

Apple's stock remained virtually flat after the company unveiled its latest iPhone model, the 16. It is the first model specifically tailored for artificial intelligence, with expected improvements to the virtual assistant Siri.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield edged down to 3.71% from 3.72% late on Friday.

In energy trading, benchmark US crude fell 19 cents to $68.52 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 15 cents to $71.69 a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar edged down to 143.09 Japanese yen from 143.15 yen. The euro cost $1.1041, little changed from $1.1040.

By RSS/AP