Asian shares mostly down despite solid signs of US growth

TOKYO, Japan — Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday despite upbeat news on the U.S. economy, with Japan’s benchmark falling after the latest data showed inflation has been slowing faster than expected. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.3 percent to finish at 35,751.07 as a key measure of inflation slowed faster than expected in January, to 1.6 percent from 2.4 percent in December. Weaker price increases relieve pressure on the Bank of Japan to tighten its ultra-lax monetary policy, which has pumped massive amounts of cash into markets. The central bank is targeting 2 percent inflation. READ: Inflation in Japan’s capital slips below central bank target “The BOJ will wait to gauge the underlying trend of the inflation path for…