- Australia's headline inflation rate for May came in at 4%, compared to the 3.6% recorded in April.
- Semiconductor-related stocks such as Advantest jumped more than 6%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, SK Hynix and MediaTek increased 1.38%, 4% and 3.25% respectively.
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Wednesday as semiconductor and related stocks jumped after Nvidia rallied overnight, while higher Australia's inflation rate climbed for a third straight month.
Australia's headline inflation for May came in at 4%, compared with the 3.6% recorded in April. The core inflation rate also came in at 4%, higher than the 3.8% expected by a Reuters poll of economists.
The higher-than-expected inflation reading could spur the RBA to raise interest rates. RBA Governor Michelle Bullock recently revealed the central bank discussed hiking rates at its last meeting.
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Separately, Singapore's May factory output climbed 2.9% in May, beating expectations from a Reuters poll of economists, which predicted a 2% year-on-year growth rate.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.71%, dragged by retail trade stocks, closing at 7,783. The index was the only one in negative territory throughout Asia.
Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.26% and ended at 39,667.07, hitting its highest level since April 9, while the broad-based Topix was up 0.56% and reached its highest since March 22.
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South Korea's Kospi gained 0.64% to 2,792.05, while the small-cap Kosdaq traded close to the flatline and finished slightly up at 842.12.
Semiconductor and related stocks rose after Nvidia shares closed 6.76% higher overnight. Advantest jumped more than 7%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, SK Hynix and MediaTek increased 1.59%, 5.33% and 1.44%, respectively. Samsung Electronics rebounded and gained 0.62%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was marginally up in its final hour of trade, while mainland China's CSI 300 closed 0.65% higher at 3,480.26 – rebounding off a near four-month low.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined, shedding 0.76% and closing at 39,112.16. Led by an Nvidia rebound, the broad market S&P 500 added 0.39% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.26%, with both indexes ending three-day losing streaks.
— CNBC's Hakyung Kim and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.