Asian stocks gain after Wall St rebounds from inflation jolt

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets surged Friday after Wall Street rebounded from a slump caused by worse-than-forecast inflation numbers.

Japan's market benchmark soared 3.5%. Hong Kong jumped 3.9% and Shanghai also rose. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $2 per barrel. U.S. futures were also sharply higher.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled Thursday after the U.S. consumer price index for September rose 8.2%. But the market benchmark quickly rebounded to end up 2.6% for its biggest daily gain in 2 1/2 years.

The “sticker shock” of inflation was "shrugged off,” possibly because traders already expect another sharp interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month to cool surging prices, said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report.

The Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia have raised rates by unusually wide margins this year to contain inflation that is at multi-decade highs. Traders worry they might tip the global economy into recession.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped to 27,161.46 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained to 117,020.15.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 2.2% to 3,083.76 and the Kospi in Seoul rose 2.3% to 2,212.78.

Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 rose 1.8% to 6,758.80 and India's Sensex opened up 1.7% at 58,234.62. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also rose.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose to 3,669.91 on Thursday following a swing of five percentage points from its lowest point during the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.8% at 30,038.72. The Nasdaq composite climbed 2.2% at 10,649.15.

Also Friday, China reported consumer inflation rose to a 29-month high of 2.8% in September from the previous month’s 2.5%. That was below the official ceiling of 3%, leaving Beijing room to stimulate weak economic growth.

The U.S....