Japan’s benchmark stock market index has topped its all-time high for a second straight day amid expectations of an interest rate cut in the United States and easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The Nikkei 225 rose above 43,421 points on Wednesday after better-than-expected US inflation data bolstered the case for a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve at its next committee meeting in September.

The milestone came after the Nikkei on Tuesday breached the 42,999-point mark for the first time.

In the US, the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also closed at record highs on Tuesday after rising 1.13 percent and 1.39 percent respectively, as investors cheered the latest inflation data release, which showed consumer prices rising a lower-than-expected 2.7 perce

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