Asia stocks follow Wall Street lower as rally cools

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets have followed Wall Street lower as a rally cooled and investors waited for U.S. inflation data that might influence a Federal Reserve decision on when to roll back economic stimulus. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney all retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 0.7%. Investors had pushed up stocks after anxiety about the coronavirus’s latest variant eased. Investors were looking ahead to U.S. inflation data that might influence the Federal Reserve’s plans to wind down economic stimulus that has boosted stock prices.