Asian stocks struggle to track Wall St higher, earnings in focus

Asian markets mostly fell Friday as traders struggled to build on Wall Street’s positive lead, with hopes for a June interest rate cut fading, while earnings season gets underway in the United States amid optimism for companies’ profit outlooks.

Tech titans helped drive gains in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 after producer price index data broadly met expectations, tempering worries about inflation following Wednesday’s figures showing a third successive upside miss in consumer prices.