HONG KONG — Asian shares were largely higher on Friday, apart from Japan, where investors awaited the outcome of a election on Sunday.
US futures fell and oil prices rose.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office several weeks ago, called early general elections to drum up support as the ruling Liberal Democrats grapple with a political financing scandal. Recent upheavals have increased uncertainty for markets, complicating the Bank of Japan’s efforts to move away from longstanding near-zero interest rates.
The Japanese capital’s core inflation stood at 1.8% in October, below the central bank’s 2% target for the first time in five months, the government reported. That reinforced expectations that the central bank will keep its key interest rate unchanged at a policy meeting next week.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1% to 37,771.79, while the Japanese yen rose against the US dollar. Early Friday, the dollar was trading at 151.64 yen, down from 151.89 yen.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1% to 20,720.60, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% to 3,307.14.
The Chinese central bank has left the medium-term interest rate unchanged at 2%. The bank also issued 700 billion yuan ($98.3 billion) to one-year financial institutions, according to the bank’s statement.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.3% to 2,590.30 and Australia’s S&The P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 8,216.50. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.3%.
On Thursday the S&The P500 rose 0.2% to 5,809.86, breaking its first three-day losing streak since early September. The price fluctuated between losses and gains all day, and was about evenly split between rising and falling stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 42,374.36 and the Nasdaq index rose 0.8% to 18,415.49.
Tesla led the market with a 21.9% jump after the electric vehicle maker reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. An optimistic CEO Elon Musk also forecast revenue growth of 20% to 30% next year, although sales for the latest quarter fell short of analyst expectations. It was the best day for Tesla shares since 2013.
Boeing fell 1.2% after its engineers voted in favor continue their strikewhich has paralyzed aircraft production. More than 60% of union members who voted on the proposed contract rejected it, leaving them holding the line six weeks after their strike.
Stocks have largely retreated this week after the S&P500 and Dow both set records late last week. They have been hit by rising government bond yields in the bond market, which may make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks. Critics had previously said that stocks looked too expensive, given that their prices have risen much faster than corporate profits.
An unemployment claims report will be provided Thursday a mixed picture on the labor market. It said fewer workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, which could signal relatively low layoffs. But it also said the total number of people receiving benefits rose to the highest level in almost three years.
Treasury yields, which had fallen overnight, pared their losses after the release of the unemployment benefits report, before yo-yoing. The yield on the 10-year government bond fell to 4.20% from 4.25% late Wednesday. It is still well above the 4.08% level at the end of last week.
A separate preliminary report said growth in U.S. business activity may have accelerated slightly last month as the strength of service sector companies continues to offset weakness in the manufacturing sector. S.’s report&P Global also showed a recovery in confidence as companies anticipate greater stability and certainty following the upcoming presidential elections.
A third report, meanwhile, said new home sales last month were stronger than economists expected.
In other trades early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude added 10 cents to $70.29 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 13 cents to $74.16 a barrel.
The euro fell from $1.0828 to $1.0821.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.