ASIAN STOCKS ADVANCED AFTER SOFTER-THAN-FEARED US INFLATION DATA REDUCED CONCERNS ABOUT AN IMMINENT FEDERAL RESERVE RATE HIKE. THE MSCI ASIA PACIFIC INDEX GAINED 0.6%, WHILE JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA ROSE, FOLLOWING GAINS ON WALL STREET THAT PUSHED THE S&P 500 CLOSER TO A RECORD AND LIFTED THE NASDAQ 100 TO A ONE-MONTH HIGH.