Asian stocks were firm on Thursday after benign US consumer inflation data overnight reinforced bets for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates next month.

Regional equities took their lead from gains on Wall Street, with Japan's Nikkei rising 0.5 percent.

Mainland Chinese blue chips added 0.4 percent, although the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 0.3 percent at the start of trading. (Reuters)