TOKYO (AP) — Asian stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday after a mixed session on Wall Street following a three-day weekend.
Stocks fell in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Hong Kong, but rose in Shanghai. Mainland Chinese markets rose thanks to moves taken by city governments in China to support the real estate market.
Oil prices also rose.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4% in early trading to 38,695.05. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.0% to 7,688.60 points. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.9% to 2,698.43 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.1% to 18,611.59, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4% to 3,123.00.
On Wall Street, most US stocks fell in a quiet day of trading on Tuesday, after bond yields rose.
Nearly three out of every four S&P 500 stocks fell. But the strength of a handful of high-impact big technology stocks helped the index hold up overall. It rose 1.32, or less than 0.1%, to 5,306.04.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 38,852.86 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index benefited from the strength of technology stocks, rising 0.6% to 17,019.88 and adding to its gains. Latest all-time high Set on Friday.
Nvidia led the way and jumped 7% to make it happen Gains for the year so far are huge 130%. She is still riding the wave created by her latest work Explosion Profit Report from last week, allaying some fears that Wall Street’s frenzy around AI technology has inflated expectations and prices beyond reasonable levels.
US Cellular rose 12.2% after T-Mobile said it would do so Buy almost all of the company. The deal is valued at $4.4 billion and includes up to $2 billion in assumed debt. T-Mobile US shares rose 0.8%.
GameStop shares jumped 25.2% after it said it raised $933.4 million in cash through a previously announced stock sale. The company, whose stock price often Moved more on investor enthusiasm The company said it may use the cash for acquisitions, investments or other general corporate purposes, beyond any change in its earnings outlook.
Investors are settling in on Wall Street after a long weekend. More from AP’s Seth Sottile.
They helped offset declines in health care stocks, which suffered some of the biggest losses on Wall Street. Moderna shares fell 8%, Merck shares fell 2.6%, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares fell 2.2%.
Most other stocks on Wall Street also fell, weighed down by a modest rise in Treasury yields. Higher yields can help make payments on everything from mortgages to credit cards more expensive, and they tend to put downward pressure on the economy.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.54% from 4.47% late Friday. It was lower in the morning but is starting to trim its losses after a surprise report showed confidence among the US Consumers are strengthening. Economists had expected it to show a decline in confidence.
Strong spending by American consumers has been one of the main reasons the economy has been able to defy recession expectations, at least so far, but some… Cracks are starting to appear. Low-income families In particular, it has begun to collapse under the pressure of still high inflation.
The Fed has kept the federal funds rate at the highest level in more than two decades in hopes of tightening the economy and investment prices enough to fully control high inflation. If interest rates are left too high for too long, it could cripple the job market and the economy overall. But an early cut in interest rates could allow inflation to accelerate and inflict more pain on American families.
This week contains several reports that could influence the Fed’s thinking, other than Tuesday’s report on consumer confidence.
The highlight is likely to come on Friday when the government releases its latest monthly report on household spending and the income they have earned. It will also include the April inflation measure that the Fed prefers to use.
In energy trade, the price of standard US crude rose 26 cents to $80.09 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 18 cents to $84.40 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 157.22 Japanese yen from 157.12 yen. The price of the euro reached $1.0850, down from $1.0857.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choi contributed.
