Published by
Reuters UK
Reuters UK
By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Stocks were struggling to advance in Asia and the dollar was firm on Wednesday ahead of U.S. consumer price data that could damage hopes for interest rate cuts later this year if inflation fails to show much of a decline. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan had fallen on Tuesday and inched down a further 0.3% early on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4%. Overnight the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and S&P 500 futures were steady in the Asian morning. A firm U.S. dollar pushed the euro back below $1.10 to $1.0971. April U.S. consumer price data …