us stock indexes climbed and bond yields fell after fresh data showed inflation eased last month a welcome development for investors who have been anxious about rising prices for much of the year the sp 500 added 07 paring some of its stronger gains from earlier in the session the nasdaq composite rose 1 while the dow jones industrial average added 03 the latest data on the consumerprice index showed that inflation rose 71 in november from a year ago compared with 77 in octoberand cooler than economists surveyed by the wall street journal had expected core inflation which excludes food and energy increased by 6 softening from 63 im happily surprised we have cooler headline inflation and cooler core said fahad kamal chief investment officer at kleinwort hambros meanwhile rising expectations that the federal reserve could slow its plans for tightening financial conditions because of inflation easing have also driven stocks higher japanese stocks were higher in early trade led by gains in tech and electronics stocks as concerns eased about us inflation and feds aggressive tightening no bigcap stocks were rising or falling more than 25 as investors refrained from making aggressive bets ahead of the feds policy decision later in the global day the nikkei stock average was up 04 at 2806973 south koreas benchmark kospi rose 07 to 238899 in early trade led by biotech and internet stocks wall streets gains overnight on coolerthanexpected us inflation data buoyed investor sentiment usdkrw fell 11 to 129200 on easing concerns about the feds pace of policy tightening as investors await its rate decision later in the day hong kong stocks advanced in early trade following broad gains in asian equities after latest us data showed inflation eased last month the benchmark hang seng index gained 05 to 1968913 ig research analyst yeap jun rong said investor sentiment may remain cautious in the near term as positive headlines over covid19 reopening could run the risk of being replaced by news of covid19 spreads as restrictions eased sentiment is also likely to remain on hold ahead of the fed meeting outcome due later in the global day ig added chinese shares opened broadly higher in early trade tracking wall street gains overnight as softerthanexpected inflation data spurred hopes of slower fed rate hikes chip makers and consumer companies were outperforming the market the shanghai composite index was 01 higher at 317855 and the shenzhen composite index was also up 01 the chinext price index opened flat at 238470 nzdusd was at 06464 early wednesday having surged higher as the us dollar crumbled in the wake of soft cpi data there anz said this is likely just the first leg of volatility to be expected this week with the fed decision tomorrow anz said markets are now approaching the meetings conclusion with a very dovish mindset it said thatll be fine if the fed are dovish but that doesnt align at all well with recent comms especially with us services inflation still rising and the labor market so tight and we may be in for a bumpy ride gold was a tad lower in early asian trade the price of the precious metal eased following a rally due to a slowerthanexpected rise in us inflation which sparked hopes that the federal reserve will begin to reduce the pace of interestrate hikes oanda market analyst edward moya said in a note higher rates typically pressure gold prices the metal should remain comfortably above 1800oz ahead of the fomc decision due later in the day and could have a path toward 1861oz if the central bank abandons its hawkish tone completely he said spot gold was recently down 01 at 180870oz crude oil fell in early asian trade following sharp gains the previous day the commodity rose tuesday amid optimism about chinas gradual reopening and news of delays in restarting tc energys keystone pipeline following a leak last week although persistent concerns about slowing global economic growth and the continued rise of covid cases could weigh the pace of chinas reopening looks likely to be accelerated which would be good news for oil demand goldman sachs analysts said in a note they expect demand to remain firm going into next year thanks to chinas reopening and the recovery in international travel the frontmonth wti contract slipped 02 to 7517bbl while frontmonth brent futures were down 03 at 8037bbl