The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.3% in June following a 0.4% increase in May.
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The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.2 percent to 15,022.34.
Shares of Google Inc. were surging on the heels of blockbuster results, overshadowing otherwise muted USA stock-market action in premarket trade Friday.
Dour quarterly reports from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and UnitedHealth (UNH.N), however, capped gains on the Dow.
Royal Mail fell 3.5 percent, the top FTSE faller, after Ofcom published a discussion document to review the company’s efficiency, consider its position within the parcels sector and assess its potential ability to set wholesale prices in a way that might harm competition. The S&P 500.SPX gained 16.89 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,124.29.
“Now that Greece has been taken care of for the time being, the focus has shifted to what’s happening on the ground in the USA”, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Malley said the markets need to see better earnings for it to move higher and break out of the sideways action that has characterized much of the year.
Forecast-beating corporate reports from mobile network supplier Ericsson (ERICb.ST), appliance maker Electrolux (ELUXb.ST) and Swiss fragrance firm Givaudan (GIVN.VX) helped European shares close mostly flat.
Despite early, upbeat results this week, US companies are expected to post their worst sales decline in almost six years in the second quarter, while profit is expected to have fallen 2.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 1% to 25415, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.25% to 20650. Despite what appeared to be a nosebleed multiple, the shares have since gone on to increase almost 14-fold in value, for a superb 27% annualized return spanning almost 11 years. France’s CAC-40 rose 0.2% while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2%. “And earnings have been OK, and that’s giving a little bit of room for a rally”. The worldwide Monetary Fund said Friday it would participate in a Greek bailout plan if it includes debt restructuring and bold government reforms.
Separately, the University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer confidence decline to 93.3% in July. However, weakness in energy stocks on weaker oil price kept the S&P 500 index in check.
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On the commodity markets, the August gold contract fell $13.10 to $1,130.80 an ounce, the August crude contract was down 68 cents at US$50.23 a barrel and the August contract for natural gas was down up cent at US$2.86.
