Global stocks held onto Wednesday's gains after U.S. inflation data matched economist expectations, with the Consumer Price Index edging up 0.1 per cent in July and annual inflation slowing to 3.4 per cent from 3.5 per cent. "Inflation is heading in the right direction for now," said Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, with markets pricing in about a 55 per cent chance the Federal Reserve will hold its policy rate at next month's meeting.

U.S. stock futures rose 0.4 per cent, while Nasdaq futures climbed 0.8 per cent after strong results from AI cloud company CoreWeave. In Asia, stocks rose 0.9 per cent led by a 3.7 per cent gain in South Korea's Kospi, and European indexes rose between 0.1 and 0.4 per cent. Oil prices edged higher, with U.S. crude rising 0.7 per cent to $83.71 a barrel after a senior Iranian official told Reuters there were no discussions with Washington on extending a ceasefire in the Middle East.

Spot gold rose 1.4 per cent to $4,428 an ounce and silver jumped 2.9 per cent to $66.47 an ounce. The dollar index dipped to 99.69, with the euro and sterling both ticking up after the inflation data, Channel NewsAsia business reports.