Asian stocks were generally lower as gains in major tech stocks helped U.S. stock indexes recover much of their losses from the previous day.
HONG KONG — Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday as big tech stocks rose and U.S. stock indexes recovered much of their losses from the previous day.
US futures and oil prices rose.
In the Tokyo market, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.2% to 39,523.55 yen, and the dollar traded at 153.31 yen, almost matching Wednesday’s 34-year high of 153.32 yen.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.9% to 16,766.61, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1% to 3,030.13. Chinese trade statistics for March are expected to be released on the same day.
“The resilience of Asian stocks is remarkable, especially given the strength of the US dollar and China’s continued deflation issues,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a commentary.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9% to 2,681.82 after the Bank of Korea kept its base interest rate unchanged at 3.50%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3% to 7,788.10.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 5,199.06, reversing most of its previous losses on concerns that interest rates will remain high for some time. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.7% to a record high of 16,442.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less focused on tech stocks, lagged. It fell less than 0.1% to 38,459.08.
Apple was the strongest force lifting the market, rising 4.3% to narrow its previous year’s loss. Nvidia continues to ride the artificial intelligence technology frenzy and is close behind. The company rose 4.1%, giving its annual profit 83%. Amazon rose 1.7%, setting a record and surpassing its all-time high set in 2021.
This is a return to last year’s form, when a small number of big tech stocks were responsible for much of the market’s rally. This year, profits were widening. That was, until concerns about persistently high inflation sent a chill through financial markets.
In the bond market, which has been driving much of the action on Wall Street, U.S. Treasury yields remained relatively stable following mixed data on inflation and the U.S. economy.
When, or if, the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates that traders desperately want is one of the key questions dominating Wall Street. Traders had expected at least six rate cuts this year, but have since sharply scaled back their expectations. Concerns are growing that inflation progress over the past year is stalling after a series of hotter-than-expected reports on inflation and the economy. Many traders now expect just two rate cuts in 2024, with some even discussing the possibility of zero.
Thursday’s report showed that wholesale-level inflation was slightly lower than economists expected last month. While this is encouraging, the data also showed that the underlying trend in inflation is either close to or slightly above expectations. These numbers remove the impact of notoriously high fuel and other prices, which economists say gives a better picture of where inflation is heading.
A separate report found fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. This is the latest sign that the job market remains remarkably strong despite high interest rates.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to 4.57% from 4.55% late Wednesday.
In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 74 cents to $85.76 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, rose 62 cents to $90.36 a barrel.
In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.0678 from $1.0731.
