BANGKOK (AP) – Stocks were mixed yesterday in Asia after Wall Street tapped fresh records, led by big gains in chipmakers.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 topped 41,000 for the first time early yesterday but then fell back, closing up 0.2 per cent lower at 40,888.43.
Property and tech companies weighed on markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell two per cent to 16,527.85 and the Shanghai Composite sank one per cent to 3,048.03.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 per cent to 7,770.60. India’s Sensex rose 0.3 per cent to 72,855.32.
Bangkok’s SET edged 0.1 per cent lower and Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.2 per cent.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent to 5,241.53, setting an all-time high for a third straight day. Three out of every four stocks in the index gained ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent to 39,781.37 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2 per cent to 16,401.84. Both indexes added to records set a day earlier.
Lower interest rates would relax pressure on the economy and the financial system. Wall Street expects the Federal reserve (Fed) to start cutting rates at its meeting in June.
Wall Street will get its next big inflation update next week when the United States reports personal consumption and expenditures data for February. It is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation.
Overall, inflation has eased by several measures since spiking in the middle of 2022, though progress stalled in the first two months of this year.
The Swiss National Bank said it was trimming its key interest rate, a surprise move that makes Switzerland the first major financial centre to announce a cut in recent months.
The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high and avoided signalling when it might start to cut even though inflation has dropped sharply.
