Japan's economy contracted in the first quarter, squeezed by weaker private consumption and external demand and throwing a fresh challenge to policymakers as the central bank looks to lift interest rates away from near-zero levels.
U.S. inflation slowed marginally in April, while the gauge of core prices closely watched by the Federal Reserve decelerated slightly but remained stubbornly elevated.
Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday tracking overnight record highs on Wall Street after some soft consumer inflation readings ramped up bets on interest rate cuts in 2024.
Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Thursday, extending gains from the prior session as a softer-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation reading brought down the dollar and ramped up hopes of interest rate cuts.
The dollar skidded to multi-month lows on Thursday after U.S. core inflation hit its slowest in three years, pulling forward expectations for rate cuts in the world's biggest economy and drawing bets that the U.S. currency may have peaked, for now.
Walmart Inc announced on Tuesday that it plans to cut hundreds of jobs at its corporate headquarters and relocate a majority of its U.S. and Canada-based remote workforce to three offices, a shift in strategy after initially endorsing virtual work during the pandemic.