Stock Market Today: Global Stocks Rise After Wall Street Nears Record; Markets watch inflation report | Associated Press

TOKYO (`) — Global stocks rose to a near record high Thursday as Wall Street rose, while Tokyo's benchmark ended at a 34-year high.

France's CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 7,469.16 in early trading. The German DAX gained almost 0.8% to 16,821.53. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 7,687.79.

The S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, just 0.3% below its all-time high. The Dow gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.

Investors are awaiting a U.S. inflation report later on Thursday that could show whether the excitement that has driven stocks higher recently is justified.

Hopes are growing that the Federal Reserve has cooled the economy just enough to curb inflation without triggering a recession.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 1.8% higher at 35,049.86. That was the highest since February 1990, during Japan's so-called “bubble years,” a period of greatly inflated real estate and stock prices.

The yen has weakened against the U.S. dollar, driving up prices for export-related stocks. Thursday was the third straight day of such deals, and analysts warned that investors could soon decide to sell to protect their profits.

Toyota Motor Corp. shares rose 3.6%, while Honda Motor Co. rose 2.3%. Sony Group Corp. rose 3.5% and Hitachi rose 4.2%.

A year ago the dollar was trading at around 130 Japanese yen. The US dollar fell to 145.53 Japanese yen from 145.76 yen on Thursday. The euro fell from $1.0972 to $1.0967.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.3% to 16,302.04, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 2,886.65.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 7,506.00. South Korea's Kospi slipped less than 2 points to 2,540.27.

Hopes are growing that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates dramatically this year. Economists expect Thursday's report to show that prices paid by U.S. consumers were 3.2% higher in December than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

That would be a slight acceleration from the 3.1% inflation rate in November. But even ignoring the impact of food and fuel prices, which can change quickly from month to month, economists believe underlying inflation trends have likely cooled further.

The Fed has indicated it may cut interest rates three times this year. Many traders expect interest rate cuts to be twice as high, but critics say that is too optimistic.

The benchmark U.S. crude oil price rose 89 cents to $72.25 a barrel early Thursday. It fell 87 cents to $71.37 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 93 cents to $77.73 a barrel.

Yuri Kageyama is on X https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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