HONG KONG — Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s benchmark index rising more than 1% as tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index to a record high.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.3% to 20,438.54, and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6% to 3,267.42. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.3% to 39,390.49 after the Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.9% to 8,177.90 after third-quarter inflation hit a three-year low of 2.8%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8% to 2,596.61, and Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.1%.
US futures and oil prices rose.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,832.92 on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.8% to 18,712.75 as gains in influential Big Tech stocks helped mask weakness elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to $42,233.05.
Mortgage rates have been rising recently as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note has risen.
Yields rose as reports continued to show that the U.S. economy remained stronger than expected. A report on Tuesday said U.S. consumer confidence rose more than economists expected, and while job openings fell slightly in September, hiring remained relatively stable.
These numbers have traders wondering how much the Fed will cut interest rates, as it is focused on keeping the economy strong as much as it is on controlling inflation. forecasts are gradually retreating. Traders are even predicting that the Fed is unlikely to keep its key interest rate unchanged at next week’s meeting, according to data from CME Group.
That comes after the Fed began its rate-cutting campaign in September with more cuts than usual. Just a month ago, many traders thought the Fed would cut rates further than usual in November.
Yields also rose as investors see former President Donald Trump’s re-election chances improving. Economists say Trump’s victory could contribute to higher inflation in the long run, and worsening inflation could lead to higher interest rates.
Trump Media and Technology Group, which tends to focus more on President Trump’s re-election chances than its own profit outlook, rose another 8.8% to $51.51 on Tuesday. Intraday price movements were so volatile that trading in the company’s stock was suspended several times. The parent company of President Trump’s platform Truth Social has been on the rise since bottoming out at about $12 in late September.
Like stocks, U.S. Treasury yields have historically tended to be volatile in the run-up to Election Day, then settle afterward, no matter which party wins.
In other trading early Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 36 cents to $67.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard crude, rose 36 cents to $71.09 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 153.31 yen from 153.36 yen. The euro fell to $1.0814 from $1.0819.
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AP Business Writer Stan Cho contributed.
