Asian shares advance after a retreat on Wall Street
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares mostly advanced on Tuesday after U.S. stocks gave back some of last week’s rally, pressured by rising global bond yields.
U.S. futures and oil prices were little changed.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% to 49,534.36, with financial shares the biggest gainers after the governor of the central bank hinted at a possible hike to interest rates this month.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng jumped 0.7% to 26,209.07, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.3% to 3,902.78.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 8,582.80.
The Kospi in South Korea jumped 1.5% to 3,977.85, led by buying of technology shares like Samsung Electronics, which surged 2.8%. Chip maker SK Hynix leaped 3.4%.
Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex climbed 1%, while the Sensex in India edged 0.1% lower.
On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.5% and broke a five-day winning streak, closing at 6,812.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9% to 47,289.33, while the Nasdaq composite dipped 0.4% to 23,275.92.
Last week’s rally was largely due to rising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate next week to help shore up the slowing job market.
Jobs are under pressure at U.S. manufacturers, and the majority in a survey by the Institute for Supply Management said they’re still focused more on managing headcount than on hiring. Several manufacturers also said tariffs are continuing to make things complicated.
“Conditions are more trying than during the coronavirus pandemic in terms of supply chain uncertainty,” one manufacturer told the ISM.
Yields for longer-term Treasurys rose in the bond market, part of a worldwide climb for yields after Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda indicated the central bank may raise its benchmark rate at its meeting later this month.
Japan’s benchmark interest rate has remained near zero for years in hopes of reviving sluggish growth. Now inflation is holding above the Bank of Japan’s target of about 2%.
“The prospect of the Bank of Japan resuming its hiking cycle a bit sooner than previously thought has sent tremors through global bond and equity markets this week, but we suspect they could nonetheless weather further tightening,” Thomas Mathews of Capital Markets said in a commentary.
When bonds are paying higher yields, they can attract investors who would otherwise buy stocks or cryptocurrencies. Higher yields undercut prices for all kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive.
Bitcoin, which was soaring around $125,000 in October, dropped toward $85,500. That’s down roughly 6% from a day earlier. It was trading around $86,650 early Tuesday.
Crypto industry stocks fell, with Coinbase Global down 4.8% and Robinhood Markets losing 4.1%.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Synposys, which rose 4.9%. It said Nvidia is investing $2 billion in its stock as part of an expanded partnership. Nvidia, which has become Wall Street’s most influential stock, swung from an early loss to a gain of 1.6%.
The markets had a mixed reaction to what seems like a strong start for the holiday shopping season. Consumer spending during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retailing bonanza was expected to exceed expectations, despite uncertainty over the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Williams-Sonoma climbed 1.3%, but Best Buy fell 2.6%.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.3% on Monday, dragged down in part by a 5.8% loss for Airbus.
The European aerospace giant said Monday that most of its fleet of 6,000 A320 passenger jets have received an update after a weekend software glitch that could have affected flight controls. Travelers faced minor disruptions as airlines scrambled to push the software updates out after Airbus warned of the problem Friday.
In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 2 cents to $59.34 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 4 cents to $63.13 pert barrel.
The dollar rose to 155.61 Japanese yen from 155.41 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1612 from $1.1608.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.