Asia-Pacific markets extend gains as Wall Street continued to rally for a second straight day and investors look toward first-quarter inflation figures from Australia. Australia’s consumer price index is expected to rise 3.5%, marking its fifth straight quarter of slowing inflation, according to economists polled by Reuters. The S&P/ASX 200 was rose 0.21% ahead of the CPI reading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 popped 1.27%, while the broad based Topix was up 0.71%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.85%, powered by a 3% gain in heavyweight Samsung Electronics, while the small cap Kosdaq was 1.25% higher. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang ... (full story)