BEIJING — Asian stock markets jumped on Friday after U.S. Inflation fell more than expected, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve could scale back its interest Rate hike plans.

The Hong Kong market benchmark jumped 5.4%. Seoul and Sydney were up almost 3%. Shanghai and Tokyo also made progress. Oil prices Rose slightly.

The benchmark of Wall Street SThe &P 500 index climbed 5.5% on Thursday for its best day in 2½ years after the government announced consumer prices rose 7.7% from a year ago in October. That was below the 8% expected by economists and the fourth month of declines.

The announcement “led to a ‘more dovish’ calibration of interest rate expectations,” IG’s Yeap Jun Rong said in a report.

The Fed and the central banks of Europe and Asia are raising their rates to calm inflation, which is at its highest in several decades. Investors fear tipping the global economy into recession. They hope lower inflation might prompt the Fed to ease its plans for further increases.

Forecasters warned on Thursday that it was too early to be certain prices were under control. Fed officials said rates may need to stay high for some time.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed to 16,948.96 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 2.7% to 28,186.34.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% to 3,073.36 after the ruling Communist Party promised to change quarantine and other anti-virus tactics to reduce the cost of the harsh “zero- COVID” from China that has disrupted the economy.

The Kospi in Seoul rose 2.8% to 2,471.10 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was up 2.4% at 7,128.40. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta gained while Bangkok fell.

On Wall Street, the S&P gained 3,956.37, propelled by big gains for the tech heavyweights. Amazon climbed 12.2%, Apple 8.9% and Microsoft 8.2%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.7%, or more than 1,200 points, to 33,715.37.

The Nasdaq composite, dominated by tech stocks, jumped 7.4% to 11,114.15 for its best day since March 2020, when Wall Street rebounded from a crash at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Investors were reassured by the fact that US inflation was down from its peak of 9.1% in June, although forecasters said the Fed’s campaign to moderate rising prices was far from over. to be completed.

Traders expect the Fed to raise its benchmark lending rate in December, but with a smaller margin of half a percent after four increases of 0.75 percentage points, triple its usual margin . This benchmark is in a range of 3.75% to 4%, compared to near zero in March.

The Fed is trying to slow economic activity to reduce upward pressure on prices.

The latest numbers are a sign that the Fed is “on the right track,” but it will face “a lot of variables” in the coming quarters, Oanda’s Edward Moya said in a report. He said the benchmark rate could be raised to 5% and “if inflation turns out to be low, it could reach 5.50%.”

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy price volatility and is more closely watched by the Fed, was 6.3% from a year earlier, down from September’s 6.6% and below the consensus forecast of 6.5%. Underlying prices rose 0.3% month over month, half of September’s 0.6% gain.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which helps set rates for mortgages and other loans, fell to 3.82% from 4.15%. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks Fed action expectations, fell to 4.32% from 4.62% and was on course for its biggest decline since 2008.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude gained 29 cents to $86.76 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 64 cents to $86.47 on Thursday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trade, advanced 27 cents to $93.94 a barrel in London.

The dollar rose to 142.08 yen from 141.83 yen on Thursday. The Euro rose slightly to $1.0186 from $1.0180.