us inflation hit its fastest pace since 1982 but stocks took the news in stride the sp 500 gained 03 while the dow jones industrial average added 01 the techheavy nasdaq composite index added 02 markets have been focused on anything that could shift expectations for the federal reserve to begin lifting interest rates as soon as march i do think the markets are believing that inflation is on the cusp of peaking said darrell cronk chief investment officer for wealth and investment management at wells fargo luca paolini chief strategist at pictet asset management said he expected inflation to reach a peak this quarter but is waiting to see if higher inflation weighs on profits in the coming earnings season japanese stocks were lower dragged by falls in electronics stocks as the yen strengthened and economic uncertainty continued amid the spread of the omicron variant earnings from fast retailing and seven  i holdings due later in the day will be closely watched investors were also paying attention to covid19 infection trends and the governments countermeasures the nikkei stock average was down 05 at 2861104 south koreas kospi edged up 01 to 297422 in early trade steel and energy stocks were higher on upbeat earnings outlooks and rising oil prices investors took in stride the high us inflation data and refrained from making big bets ahead of the bank of koreas policy meeting friday usdkrw was trading lower at 118650 versus 119050 late wednesday helping boost appetite for local equities hong kongs hang seng index was up 06 at 2453697 with gains led by energyrelated stocks property stocks may continue to decline on lingering concerns with payment deadlines looming for china evergrande and shimao group ig said chinese stocks slipped in early trade reversing course after yesterdays rebound as renewable energyrelated sectors weighed the shanghai composite index declined 02 to 359073 the shenzhen composite index fell 09 and the chinext price index was 12 lower chasing securities expected investors to be cautious as the lunar new year approaches pointing to weak market transaction volumes on wednesday asian currencies consolidated against usd in the asian morning session but may be supported by market participants seeking to take profit on long usd positions as the roadmap of fed tightening gets clear some traders may look for an exit and profittaking opportunities dailyfx said a soft usd is generally positive to stocks commodities and emergingmarket assets dailyfx added usdkrw rose 02 to 118838 usdsgd edged 01 lower to 13456 while audusd was little changed at 07286 gold prices were slightly lower in early asian trade gold could remain above 1800oz as treasury yields seem unlikely to rally much higher until markets become more certain on the federal reserves balance sheet reduction process which wont happen until a few more meetings oanda said spot gold was down 01 to 182444oz oil prices were higher in early asian trade amid supply disruptions which could keep stockpiles tight anz said eia on wednesday reported that crude oil stockpiles fell to a twoyear low of 455 million barrels a day it said the international energy agency has also said that demand for oil may remain more robust than what most market observers expect due to the effect of the omicron variant being milder than expected the frontmonth wti contract rose 02 to 8284bbl while the frontmonth brent contract was 03 higher at 8488bbl