[MARKET ANALYSIS] Asia-Pac stocks take impetus from the gains on Wall St, where sentiment was underpinned and Fed rate hike bets were trimmed on soft CPI data

APAC Stocks: Mostly higher

• Asia-Pac stocks are predominantly in the green as most major indices took impetus from the gains on Wall St, where sentiment was underpinned, and Fed rate hike bets were trimmed following softer-than-expected CPI data, while US President Trump also abandoned plans for a 20% Hormuz fee.

ASX 200: +0.3%

• Trades with marginal gains with outperformance in miners following Rio Tinto's quarterly update, although the upside in the index is capped as defensives lag.

Nikkei 225: +1.0%

• Rallied amid tech strength, but with further upside limited following disappointing Machinery Orders.

KOSPI +7.2%

• Climbed higher amid tech-related momentum and with SK Hynix shares up by a double-digit percentage as it plays catch-up to the 27% surge in its ADRs.

Hang Seng & Shanghai Comp: Hang Seng +1.5% / Shanghai Comp -0.4%

• Chinese markets are varied, with the mainland lagging after a slew of mixed data releases, including Chinese GDP and activity data.

US Equity Futures: Positive

• Remained afloat following the softer US CPI data and start of earnings season.

European Equity Futures -0.2%

• Indicate a lower cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.2% after the cash market closed with gains of 0.2% on Tuesday.

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