Asian shares have advanced following a rally on Wall Street driven by encouraging update on U.S. inflation. Oil prices rose and U.S. futures were little changed. Bank of Japan data showed wholesale prices in Japan rose 3.8% in December last year compared to a year earlier, adding to pressures on the central bank to raise interest rates. On Wall Street, strong profit reports from Wells Fargo and other big U.S. banks also helped launch indexes to their best day in two months. The S&P 500 jumped 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.5%.
