Asian markets follow Wall Street higher on upbeat news from China, US
HONG KONG — Stocks in Asia rose on Friday, led by gains in Hong Kong and other Chinese markets, fueled by China’s efforts to revive its economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose more than 1% as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party held a leadership election that will determine the winner. The next Prime Minister of Japan. The change in leadership is not expected to lead to major policy changes, given the similarities between the leading contenders.
China’s central bank on Friday cut its reserve requirements for banks as part of measures announced this week to help the real estate sector and support financial markets.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 3.7% to 20,659.03 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 2.1% to 3,065.29.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Stock Exchange encountered problems that hampered order processing and caused delays after the market opened on Friday. This led to a 6.4% rise in the Shenzhen index, as local media reported investors flocked to that smaller market during the slowdown.
Trading returned to normal by midday, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange later said in a statement that it was still investigating the causes.
In the latest sign of the malaise hampering growth in the world’s second-largest economy, the government reported that industrial profits fell nearly 18% year-on-year in August.
Shares of Hong Kong real estate giant New World Development rose 21.5% on Friday after Adrian Cheng, the third-generation scion at the helm of the conglomerate, was replaced. The company reported an annual loss of more than $2.4 billion in a profit warning last month, the first loss in almost twenty years.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4% to 39,451.25 after consumer inflation in Tokyo, considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends, cooled to 2.2% annualized in September, in line with market consensus .
Elsewhere in Asia, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 rose almost 0.1% to 8,208.70. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.2% to 2,666.01.
On Thursday the S&P500 added 0.4% to 5,745.37, which is a highest ever for the third time this week and the 42nd time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 42,175.11, while the Nasdaq index rose 0.6% to 18,190.29.
Micron Technology led the way with a 14.7% jump after the maker of computer memory and storage products posted stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It benefited from sales related to artificial intelligence technology, with a tree has helped some stocks soar to astonishing heights.
Jabil climbed 11.7% after the electronics manufacturer also reported stronger than expected profit and revenue. It also announced a plan to give money to its shareholders by buying back up to $1 billion of its shares.
The largest decline in the S&The P 500 reached Super Micro Computer, which gave back some of its huge profits after more than tripling last year amid the AI frenzy. The stock fell 12.2% after a report from The Wall Street Journal that the US Department of Justice is investigating the server and storage systems vendor. The company declined to comment.
A series of reports on Thursday showed the world’s largest economy may be doing better than expected.
Fewer American workers applied for jobs unemployment benefits Last week the latest signal emerged that layoffs remain relatively low across the economy. A separate report said the overall U.S The economy grew by 3% annually in the spring, as previously estimated. That’s a hefty rate.
Wall Street’s hopes are for a form of financial nirvana in which US economic growth remains stable, allowing corporate profits to continue rising while the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates.
The Fed made one last week drastic turn in the way it determines the interest rate. It’s cutting them off now making things easier for the American economy after keeping interest rates high for years in the hope of extinguishing high inflation. Lower rates don’t just make things better cheaper to borrow money to buy a house, a car or stuff on credit cards, they can also drive up prices on all kinds of investments.
In other trades early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude lost 15 cents to $67.52 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 19 cents at $70.90 a barrel.
The US dollar rose from 144.80 yen to 145.24 Japanese yen. The euro traded at $1.1170, down from $1.1176.
___
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.