HONG KONG (AP) – Asian stocks rose on Monday after U.S. stock indexes hovered near record highs on Friday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 40,000 for the first time.
U.S. futures rose and oil prices rose as investors focused on the Middle East. In the Middle East, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials arrived. crashed in a mountainous area northwest Iran on Sunday.
Chinese markets extended last week’s gains following the People’s Bank of China’s announcement. new support For the real estate industry, these changes include reducing down payments required for home loans, lowering mortgage rates for first and second home purchases, and eliminating the minimum mortgage rate cap.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5% to 19,648.19, while the real estate index rose 0.6% by midday. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 3,162.08.
The People’s Bank of China on Monday kept its one-year and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95%, as expected. The one-year LPR serves as the benchmark for most new and outstanding loans in China, while the five-year rate influences the pricing of real estate mortgages.
In the Tokyo market, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.4% to 39,346.92. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 7,862.70. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,741.55.
Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Tyex rose 0.1%. Lai Ching-toku becomes Taiwan’s new president. Mr. Lai supports the island’s policy of de facto independence from China and is expected to strengthen its defense against the Chinese government, which claims the island as Chinese territory.
In Bangkok, the SET rose 0.3%.
On Friday, the Dow rose 0.3% to 40,003.59, a day after briefly rising. Break through 40,000 level first time. Stock indexes and Wall Street Other indexes have been rising since fall 2022. Arrived.
The S&P 500, the more important index to Wall Street and most retirement savers, rose 0.1% to 5,303.27. It finished just 0.1% shy of the record set on Wednesday, ending a four-week streak of gains. The Nasdaq Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.1% to 16,685.97.
Elsewhere in financial markets, U.S. Treasury yields rose.
Last week’s report reignited hopes that: Inflation is finally returning After a demoralizing start to the year, we’re on the right track. This has renewed expectations for the Federal Reserve. lower key interest rates At least once this year.
The federal funds rate is at its highest level in more than 20 years, and a cut would reduce investment prices and take some of the downward pressure off the economy.
The hope is that the Fed can strike a balance between slowing the economy enough through high interest rates to eliminate high inflation, but not enough to cause a bad recession.
Of course, some economists are warning that the optimism may be overdone, as a growing percentage of traders are betting the Fed will cut rates twice or more this year.what is that It happens all the time on Wall Street..
While recent data reports have been better than expected, “better than expected does not mean better,” Bank of America economists said in a BofA Global Research report.
Inflation is still higher than the Fed would like, and Bank of America’s Michael Gepen still expects the Fed to keep key interest rates on hold until December when it cuts rates.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.38% late Thursday.
In other trading Monday, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 3 cents to $79.61 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 10 cents to $84.08 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 155.79 yen from 155.55 yen. The euro rose to $1.0877 from $1.0871.
