Lower Inflation Aids Australian Stock Outperformance

Regional equities are tracking higher in Asia Pac trade for Wednesday. Gains are quite uniform across the major indices, albeit with varying betas with respect to US gains from Tuesday's session. Australian stocks are the standout, while most other indices are less than 1% firmer at this stage. US equity futures are maintaining a positive trend, with Eminis last near 4514, which is levels last seen back in mid August. Nasdaq futures are slightly outperforming, last +0.24% to 15453.

• The ASX 200 is tracking +1.4% firmer in Australia, comfortably the best performer in the region. Financial stocks have led the way, post the July CPI miss, which may see the RBA pause further. Gains were also evident elsewhere, with 10 out of 11 sectors rising.
• China stocks were firmer earlier but couldn't sustain gains. The CSI 300 is +0.06% at the break after being as high as +0.60% earlier. The index sits below the 3800 level. Prospects for further bank interest rate cuts on mortgages and deposits has weighed on the banking sector. Still, Bloomberg notes China's largest ETF is on track for record inflows in August (see this link for more details).
• The HSI is +0.59% at the break, but also sub earlier highs. Tomorrow, we get official China PMI prints for August, which are expected to show a further loss of growth momentum.
• The Kospi and Taiex are tracking higher (around +0.60%), in line with better tech tones from Tuesday's US session.
• In SEA, Philippine stocks are up 0.90%, reversing some of the recent underperformance.