Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed as Chinese shares resume their upward climb

BANGKOK– Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday after Japan reported exports rose nearly 10% in December, although shares in Tokyo fell.

U.S. futures and oil prices moved higher.

Chinese stocks resumed their upward climb after China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Wang Jiangjun called for better investor protection and instilling confidence in the potential for gains in markets, which have faltered in recent months.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2% to 15,569.39, helped by gains from tech companies such as e-commerce giant Alibaba, which rose 3.8%.

The Shanghai Composite index recovered from early losses to rise 1.8% to 2,820.77.

Japan’s exports grew nearly 3% in 2023, while imports fell 7%, leaving a trade deficit of 9.2 trillion yen, preliminary customs data showed, a sharp decline from the 20.3 trillion deficit yen that was reported the year before.

But economists predict that the rebound in export growth will be short-lived.

“Looking ahead, we expect export growth to slow this year as pent-up foreign demand for Japanese goods declines,” Gabriel Ng of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8% to 36,226.48, also hit by renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan is moving towards a change in its long-standing lax monetary policy, which has kept markets flush with cash. has flooded.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.4% to 2,469.69.

In Australia the S&The P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 7,519.20.

India’s Sensex lost 0.1%, while Bangkok’s SET rose 0.2%.

On Tuesday the S&The P500 climbed to a new record as the earnings reporting season for major US companies gained momentum.

The index rose 0.3% to 4,864.60. The Nasdaq index also rose 0.4% to 15,425.94. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, a day after rising above 38,000 for the first time. It ended at 37,905.45.

Procter & Gamble climbed 4.1% after reporting stronger earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

United Airlines flew 5.3% higher after also reporting stronger profit than analysts expected for the last three months of 2023. The company earned more revenue from customers in both basic economy and premium seats, although it warned it could lose money in the first three months of this year due to the grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

Earnings season is getting underway and more than a dozen companies in the Z&P500 announced their latest quarterly results on Tuesday morning. More than 50 will follow later this week, including Tesla and Intel.

Tuesday’s headliners included Verizon Communications, which rose 6.7% after beating analysts’ earnings expectations. General Electric also beat expectations, but its stock fell 1% after issuing a profit forecast for the quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Housebuilder DR Horton fell 9.2% after reporting weaker-than-expected profits.

Analysts predict that companies in the S&The P500 will post weaker headline earnings per share than a year earlier, which would be the fourth decline in the past five quarters, according to FactSet. But stock prices are still soaring to records on anticipation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates several times this year.

Such cuts could increase prices for investments while easing pressure on the economy and financial system.

Treasury yields have already fallen significantly since the fall on expectations for upcoming rate cuts, although critics warn that traders may have gone overboard again in predicting how many cuts will come and how soon the Fed will begin.

In other trading Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude rose 18 cents to $74.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It yielded 39 cents on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 18 cents to $79.73 a barrel.

The US dollar fell from 148.38 yen to 147.76 Japanese yen. The euro rose from $1.0855 to $1.0870.