Asia-Pacific markets track Wall Street gains after White House downplays tariff deadline

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Friday, tracking Wall Street's gains after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt downplayed the impending start of the tariff deals, which have weighed on investor sentiment.

July 8 is when the so-called liberation day tariffs are set to take effect after a 90-day pause, and July 9 is the deadline for an EU deal to avoid 50% tariffs.

“The deadline is not critical,” said Leavitt. Perhaps it could be extended, but that's a decision for the president to make.7

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 1.07% in early trade after hitting a five-month high in its previous session, while the broader Topix index advanced 1.05%.

The country's capital city of Tokyo saw core consumer price index excluding fresh food and fuel rise 3.1% year on year in June,slower than the 3.6% increase seen in the previous month, and the 3.3% gain penciled by economists polled by Reuters.

In South Korea, the Kospi index and the small-cap Kosdaq were flat.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark rose 0.61% in early trade.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 24,348, pointing to a slightly higher open compared to the HSI's last close of 24,325.40.

U.S. stock futures were near the flatline in early Asian hours as investors awaited the release of several data points, including inflation, personal income, consumer spending and consumer sentiment.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 rose to within a whisker of a new record high, as the broad market index overcame a slew of macroeconomic challenges including tariff wars, geopolitical tensions and sticky inflation.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to close at 6,141.02, bringing its gain on the week to 2.9% and putting it just a few points away from its intraday all-time high of 6,147.43 in late February.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.97% to 20,167.91, also inches away from a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 404.41 points, or 0.94%, to 43,386.84.

Tokyo's core inflation rises at a slower pace in June

Japan's Tokyo core consumer price index excluding fresh food and fuel rose 3.1% year over year in June, slower than the 3.6% increase seen in the previous month, according to data released by the Statistics Bureau of Japan on Friday.

The latest reading is also slower than the 3.3% gain forecasted by economists polled by Reuters.

Meanwhile, the headline inflation for Japan's capital in June was 3.1% year over year, down from 3.4% the month before.

Tokyo inflation data is considered a key indicator of overall price growth in Japan. The index, which strips away the effects of both fresh food and fuel costs, is closely watched by the Bank of Japan as a broader price trend indicator.