Stock market today: Asian shares track Wall Street's rebound

Shares are higher in Asia after Wall Street stocks recovered much of their sharp losses from a day before. Oil prices declined. Benchmarks rose in most major markets apart from Seoul, while mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Japan reported its economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.4% in the last quarter of 2023, taking it into recession. It is now the 4th largest economy, behind Germany. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 1%, taking back more than two-thirds of its loss from Tuesday following a hotter-than-expected report on inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3%. Small-company stocks did even better.