BANGKOK (AP) — Japan’s stock benchmark Nikkei stock average surged to a record high of 40,913.65 on Thursday, leading gains in most Asian markets.
Stock prices fell in Chinese markets, while U.S. stock futures rose slightly.
Investors around the world are eager for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, which it has kept at two-decade highs to stave off slowing economic growth and tame inflation, reviving hopes that price pressures will ease enough to allow that.
The Nikkei rose 0.8 percent to 40,913.65, helped by buying in automakers and other export-related stocks that helped push the index to a record high.
Toyota Motor Corp. rose 2 percent, Honda Motor Co. rose 3 percent, Nissan Motor Co. rose 4.5 percent and shares of computer test-equipment maker Advantest Corp. rose 2.1 percent.
The all-time high for the Nikkei Stock Average closing price was 41,087.75 on March 22. The previous highest closing price was 40,888.43, also on March 22.
Investors are flocking to the Japanese market in part because of the weak yen, which is trading at a 34-year low against the dollar. A weaker yen tends to boost profits for exporters when they send money back to Japan.
Changes in regulations regarding investment accounts have also encouraged stock buying.
The Nikkei is up 22.4% so far this year. The index soared in the late 1980s when asset prices soared during Japan’s bubble economy, but fell after the financial bubble burst in the early 1990s, hitting a record high of 38,915.87.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index recovered from early losses to rise 0.2% to 18,018.72, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8% to 2,957.57.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.5%, while chipmaker and market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) rose 2.7%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.2% to 7,831.80, while Seoul’s KOSPI rose 1.1% to 2,824.94.
Bangkok’s SET rose 0.9 percent.
U.S. stocks continued to rise in the holiday-shortened session on Wednesday. Weak Report Concerns about the economy have left the possibility of a rate cut open.
US markets will be closed on Thursday for Independence Day.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% on Wednesday, hitting a new all-time high for the second straight day and its 33rd this year, closing at 5,537.02.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, to 39,308.00, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%, to 18,188.30.
Tesla again boosted the market, rising 6.5% the following day. Reports that sales decline has slowed It rose more than analysts had feared in the spring, and was one of the most powerful factors driving up the S&P 500 index. NVIDIAWall Street’s darling Diving into Artificial Intelligence Technology Shares rose 4.6%, bringing the semiconductor company’s gains so far this year to 159%.
The action picked up in the bond market, with Treasury yields falling after a series of weaker-than-expected reports from both the labor market and U.S. service companies.
This followed earlier morning reports indicating a slowdown in the jobs market.
Wall Street’s hope is that the economy will weaken enough that Inflationary pressuresBut not enough to cause workers to lose their jobs and trigger a recession.
A more anticipated report will be released on Friday, when the U.S. government is set to release a comprehensive update on how many workers employers added in June.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.35% from 4.44% late Tuesday in a notable move for the bond market. Most of the decline followed a report on the U.S. services sector. Yields have been trending lower since April on expectations that inflation is slowing and that the Federal Reserve will cut its key interest rate from its highest level in more than two decades.
Meanwhile, benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 73 cents to $83.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 67 cents to $86.67 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 161.44 yen from Wednesday’s close of 161.67 yen, reflecting hopes that U.S. interest rate cuts would narrow the interest rate gap with Japan, where the benchmark lending rate is near zero.
The euro rose to $1.0792 from $1.0787.
