Asia markets mixed after U.S. stocks jump on inflation data

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after Wall Street jumped overnight, following U.S. inflation data that largely met expectations.

The U.S. consumer price index in February climbed 0.4% on the month and 3.2% year over year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a 0.4% increase month on month and 3.1% year over year.

Core inflation, which strips out food and energy from the headline reading, climbed 0.4% in February, compared to a forecast gain of 0.3%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.24%, extending gains from Tuesday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 reversed gains to fall 0.37%, while the broad-based Topix also dropped 0.24% after logging gains early in the session.

South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.32% after its February unemployment rate came in at 2.6%, down from January’s figure of 3%. The small-cap Kosdaq was up 0.35%, on pace for a fourth day of gains.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index retreated marginally after notching a gain of over 3% on Tuesday, with the mainland CSI 300 also down 0.3%

Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rose after the inflation readings, with the S&P500 gaining 1.12% and hitting a new record high of 5,175.27.

The Nasdaq Composite also saw a 1.54% gain as investors plunged back into tech names, sending shares of Nvidia and Oracle up 7% and 11% respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.61%.

— CNBC’s Yun Li and Brian Evans contributed to this report