By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly up on Friday morning, with investors balancing better-than-expected corporate earnings against the inflation risks that continue to plague the global economy.

Japan’s jumped 1.33% by 10:18 PM ET (2:18 AM GMT) and South Korea’s rose 0.77%.

Australia saw a rise of 0.56%.

Hong Kong’s was up 0.28%, with markets re-opening after a holiday.

China’s inched down 0.08% and the was down 0.37%, as the People’s Bank of China added enough medium-term funds to keep financial-system liquidity at existing levels.

U.S.: The benchmark had a decline while the index saw its greatest day since March 2021. However, it was boosted by more than expected results from large banks.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE) will release its earnings later today.

While the measures taken so far have calmed inflation concerns, there is still much to be debate about whether we are heading towards stagflation. This comes amid continued increases in energy prices as well as supply-chain bottlenecks.

“We’re likely going to continue to see this elevated inflation and probably well into 2022,” Wealth Enhancement Group senior vice president Nicole Webb told Bloomberg. Expect the Fed to begin asset tapering in November 2021. It will also likely start interest-rate hike talks earlier than planned.

U.S. data revealed that the September retail sales rose 0.5% month on month, while 293,000 filed during the week was lower than expected. Later in the day, additional data will be released including information on retail sales, as well as Michigan sentimentindices.

Meanwhile, Brian Moynihan, CEO at Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:), joined finance industry peers including Goldman Sachs’s John Waldron and Morgan Stanley James Gorman, CEO of NYSE: predicts that inflationary pressures will continue.

“Inflation is clearly not temporary. The Fed is starting to indicate that it is time for them to move as the path out of COVID-19 is more assured,” Moynihan told Bloomberg.

Commodities were up and base metals rose as European miners became the latest casualties of the global energy crunch.