BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Thursday, following a record gain on Wall Street.
Chinese stocks fell but rose elsewhere, while U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices fell.
U.S. stocks continued to rise during holiday-shortened trading hours on Wednesday as a weak report on the economy left an interest rate cut open to possibility.
US markets will be closed on Thursday for Independence Day.
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.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei stock average rose 0.6 percent to 40,815.95 after buying in automakers and other export-related stocks helped keep it near a 35-year high.
Toyota Motor Corp. rose 1.3 percent, while computer testing equipment maker Advantest Inc. added 2.4 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index recovered from early losses to rise 0.1% to 17,988.25, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4% to 2,969.45.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.2%, while chipmaker and market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) rose 2.7%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1% to 7,815.80, while Seoul’s KOSPI rose 0.7% to 2,813.54.
Bangkok’s SET rose 1%.
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 lifted the market, climbing 6.5% from the previous day after the company reported a smaller decline in sales in the spring than analysts had feared. The company, along with Nvidia, was one of the most powerful drivers of the S&P 500’s gains. The semiconductor company, a darling of Wall Street’s burgeoning push into artificial intelligence technology, rose 4.6%, bringing its gains this year to 159%.
Bond markets were more active, with Treasury yields falling after a series of weaker-than-expected reports from both the labor market and U.S. service companies, data that could put the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates later this year in line with Wall Street’s hopes.
A report showed that business activity in real estate, retail trade and other U.S. service industries contracted for the third time in 49 months in June, less than economists had expected. Perhaps more importantly for Wall Street, a report from the Institute for Supply Management said the pace of price increases is slowing.
This followed earlier morning reports indicating a slowdown in the jobs market.
Wall Street is hoping the economy will soften enough to keep inflationary pressures at bay, but not so much that workers 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 56 cents to $83.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 51 cents to $86.83 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 161.50 yen on expectations that the U.S. interest rate cut would narrow the interest rate gap with Japan, where the benchmark lending rate is near zero.
The euro was unchanged at $1.0787.
AP Business Writer Stan Cho contributed.
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