Asian stocks higher after Wall St rebounds from bank jitters

Asian stock markets are higher after Wall Street stabilized following declines for bank stocks and U.S. inflation edged lower. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices regained some of the previous day’s losses. On Tuesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose as bank stocks recovered some of their losses caused by worries customers might pull out deposits following the collapse of two U.S. lenders. Government data showed prices rose 6% over a year earlier in February, down from the previous month’s 6.4% but still far above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Investors had worried the Federal Reserve might respond to enduring upward pressure on prices by speeding up interest rate increases.