TOKYO - Tech stocks led advances in Asia on Thursday, taking their cue from Wall Street's gains after tepid inflation data allayed concerns over the state of the US economy.

US Treasury yields remained elevated after pulling further away from recent lows the day before, on escalating tit-for-tat tariff battles between the United States and trading partners.

The euro was steady after slipping back from a five-month high on Wednesday, when US President Donald Trump warned of a response to the European Union's threatened counter-tariffs on US goods. However, the shared currency continued to garner support from signs of progress towards peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Gold climbed to within $13 of its record peak, while crude oil was stable following a 2 percent climb in the prior session on the back of a smaller-than-expected rise in US stockpiles.

Japan's Nikkei gained 0.9 percent, buoyed by advances in chip-sector heavyweights such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron.

Taiwan's tech-heavy equities index added 0.6 percent, and South Korea's KOSPI climbed 0.7 percent

The US S&P 500 advanced 0.5 percent on Wednesday, and the Nasdaq jumped 1.2 percent, with beaten-down megacap tech shares rebounding sharply. Futures in both indexes pointed 0.1 percent higher on Thursday.

On Wednesday, data showed US consumer prices rose 0.2 percent last month after accelerating 0.5 percent in January. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI climbed 0.2 percent in February after gaining 0.4 percent in January.

The inflation figures were closely watched following a run of softer economic data recently and the potential inflationary impact of Trump's tariff campaign.

However, analysts noted the components that were mainly responsible for the cooling in price pressures will not feed into the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index. Producer prices due later on Thursday will also bear close scrutiny.

"Uncertainty remains in the air as the outlook for consumer price inflation remains blurred by trade policy developments," TD Securities analysts wrote in a client note.

"The impact from the recent implementation of tariffs on Chinese, Canadian and Mexican goods and the expectation of further announcements suggest the worst is yet to come."

Trump's increased tariffs on all US steel and aluminium imports took effect on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to reorder global trade in favour of the US and drawing swift retaliation from Canada and Europe.

Trade uncertainty saw US Treasury yields extend a climb from Tuesday's five-month low for two-year notes overnight. The yield last stood at 3.924 percent after rising as high as 4.005 percent on Wednesday. It sank as low as 3.829 percent on Tuesday for the first time since October 4.

Rising yields supported the dollar, which was steady at $1.0895 per euro on Thursday, after weakening to $1.0947 on Tuesday for the first time since October 11.

Europe's shared currency has soared on the promise of bigger spending on defence and infrastructure by Germany, along with progress towards a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict.

Meanwhile, the dollar has been on the defensive with Trump's unpredictable trade policies sowing concerns about a possible recession in the United States.

The safe-haven yen pulled back to 146.205, after reaching its strongest since October 4 at 146.545 per dollar on Tuesday.

A steep climb in 30-year Japanese government bond yields also faded. Yields sank as low as 2.53 percent on Thursday, easing from their highest since 2006 at 2.615 percent on Wednesday.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday that recent rises in yields were a natural reflection of market expectations of future interest rate hikes, underscoring the central bank's resolve to continue tightening monetary policy.

Gold rose about 0.3 percent to as high as $2,943.49, closing in on the record high from February 24 at $2,956.15.

Crude oil steadied following Wednesday's rally. Brent futures eased 0.1 percent to $70.88 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures edged down 0.2 percent to $67.57 a barrel.

Cryptocurrency bitcoin added 1 percent to around $84,000, making up additional ground following its sharp drop to a four-month trough at $76,666.98 on Tuesday.