Asian stocks mostly higher ahead of US inflation report

NEW YORK (AP) Stocks open mixed on Wall Street following the latest inflation update. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% on Tuesday and was slightly below the all-time high set last week. The Dow lost 20 points and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. The much-anticipated inflation report shows that prices paid by U.S. consumers last month rose slightly more than economists expected. She left the door closed to hope that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates next week. Oracle rose sharply after announcing better than expected results. Southwest Airlines sank after announcing it would cut capacity due to declining Boeing plane deliveries.

THIS IS A LATEST UPDATE. Earlier AP story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) Wall Street was mixed in early trading Tuesday ahead of the release of a report on U.S. inflation that could influence the Federal Reserve's timetable for interest rate cuts.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.2% before the bell, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell less than 0.1%.

Tuesday's report on prices paid by Americans could show that inflation remained at 3.1% in February, if economists' forecasts are correct.

A month ago, a report hotter than expected on inflation at the consumer level has driven financial markets.

But inflation's trend has been mostly downward, moving closer to the Fed's 2% target after peaking above 9%. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said last week: the Fed is not far away to have enough confidence in inflation to start cutting rates. A cut in the Fed's main interest rate, which is at its highest level since 2001, would ease pressure on the economy and financial system, while raising investment prices.

Traders generally expect the Fed to begin cutting rates in June, and stock prices have been supported by those expectations as well as signals that the economy remains stable. remarkably durable.

Shares of enterprise software company Oracle jumped more than 13% in after-hours trading after beating analysts' profit targets thanks to a quarter of strong growth in its cloud segment.

Shares of New York Community Bank rose slightly after the troubled bank announced it had ended its $1 billion lifeline from investors. The bank's shares rose 4% to $3.25 on Tuesday. The bank lost a third of its value this month after announcing weakness of commercial real estate and growing difficulties resulting from its takeover of the afflicted Signature Bank a year ago for $2.7 billion.

In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX rose 0.4% and Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.8%. The CAC 40 in Paris effectively remained unchanged.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost less than 0.1% to 38,797.51, further away from its recent records amid expectations that the central bank will raise its negative benchmark interest rate next month.

This speculation pushed the Japanese yen higher against the US dollar. On Tuesday morning, the dollar was trading at 147.35 yen, down from 146.95 yen. Recently, the dollar was trading at around 150 yen.

Chinese markets were mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 3.1% at 17,093.50, led by property developers and technology companies.

The Shanghai Composite index fell, losing 0.4% to 3,055.94.

Elsewhere in Asia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1% to 7,712.50. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 2,681.81.

After hitting a record high above $72,700 on Monday, Bitcoin was trading at around $71,886 early Tuesday. Bitcoin fell below $17,000 early last year.

In other trading Tuesday morning, benchmark U.S. crude oil was up 22 cents at $78.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 8 cents to $77.93 a barrel on Monday.

Brent crude, the international standard, added 32 cents to $82.53 a barrel.

The dollar fell to 147.40 Japanese yen, while the euro rose to $1.0934 from $1.0925.

On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% but remained near its all-time high set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.