<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Most Asian markets rose Thursday as the majority returned from the Lunar New Year break on an optimistic note, with inflation slowing and central banks hinting at a lighter approach to tackling prices.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hong Kong led the way again, helped by hopes that China's reopening will fuel a strong recovery this year, while Bloomberg News said travel and box office numbers for the holidays were encouraging.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But uneven earnings from tech giants largely kept sentiment in check and saw Wall Street end on a soft note, with the Nasdaq in the red.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Traders are now awaiting the release of US growth data on Thursday and the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation Friday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Still, Asia continued to outperform after a strong start to the year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next week, the Federal Reserve will make its latest policy decision since slowing its pace of rate hikes in December after four straight 75 basis-point increases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speculation has been building in recent weeks that the bank could take its foot off the pedal as data points to inflation coming down quicker than expected and other indicators suggest last year's tightening was taking hold in the economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And while there remains some concern that the world's top economy could tip into recession, there is growing hope it can achieve a so-called soft landing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hong Kong jumped more than one percent Thursday -- having already piled on more than 10 percent in 2023 -- while Singapore, Wellington and Manila were also up, though Tokyo dipped.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seoul edged up as data showed South Korea's economy shrank in October-December -- for the first time since the second quarter of 2020 -- giving the central bank room to tone down its pace of rate hikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes was upbeat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Once we chop through the cudgel of earnings reports, one can reasonably expect the buyback tailwind to resume in force come February," he said in a commentary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The opportunity set in non-US markets continues to look more attractive. And while China remains the faster horse in the race, still after a run of resilient activity data, lower gas prices, easier financial conditions and earlier China reopening, investors should take note of the solid non-recessionary vibes emanating from Europe."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oil prices edged up and have consolidated around their November highs on China demand expectations, with officials saying the number of daily Covid deaths had fallen nearly 80 percent since the start of the month.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The figures will come as some relief to investors who feared that a wave of infections across the country would offset the benefits of dispatching the zero-Covid strategy that hammered the economy for three years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Key figures around 0230 GMT -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN AT 0.1 percent at 27,361.10 (break)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 22,394.63</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0919 from $1.0921 on Wednesday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2409 from $1.2403</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Euro/pound: DOWN at 88.00 pence from 88.02 pence</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dollar/yen: DOWN at 129.21 yen from 129.57 yen</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $80.46 per barrel</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.1 percent at $86.21 per barrel</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New York - Dow: FLAT at 33,743.84 (close)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,744.87 (close). AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>