Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 8,455.70 after data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the Consumer Price Index increased by 0.2% in the December 2024 quarter, marking the smallest rise since the June 2020 quarter, when inflation declined during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asian stocks advanced Wednesday in thin Lunar New Year trading following a rebound on Wall Street driven by tech stocks as the panic over Chinese AI company DeepSeek faded.
On Tuesday, tech stocks bounced back after tumbling Monday on doubts over whether the artificial-intelligence frenzy really needs all the dollars being poured into it.
The spotlight remained on Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the move into AI and whose stock has become a symbol of the surrounding frenzy.
It rose 8.8% after plunging nearly 17% on Monday, which was its worst drop since the 2020 COVID crash.
