Stock market today: Asian shares surge as weak US jobs data back hopes for an end to rate hikes

BANGKOK– Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday after most stocks fell on Wall Street following a series of mixed reports on the US economy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.9% to 16,477.34, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 2,968.93.

The gains followed sell-offs the previous day amid concerns about the health of China’s economy, the world’s second largest.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 2% to 33,445.90 after a senior central bank official reiterated the Bank of Japan’s determination to maintain its easy lending policy until it reaches a stable level of inflation.

In Seoul, the Kospi rose less than 0.1% to 2,495.38. S from Australia&The P/ASX 200 rose 1.7% to 7,178.40.

India’s Sensex gained 0.3% and the Bangkok SET advanced 0.7%.

On Tuesday, the S&The P 500 fell 0.1%, its first consecutive loss since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

U.S. stock and Treasury yields faltered after reports showed employers announced far fewer job openings in late October than expected, while growth at service companies accelerated more than expected last month. .

That kept alive questions about whether the U.S. economy can make a sweet landing where it quells high inflation but avoids a recession.

On Wall Street, KeyCorp fell 3.7% and led a decline in banking stocks after it cut its forecast for fee income and other non-interest income. But gains of more than 2% by Apple and Nvidia, two of the market’s most influential stocks, helped mitigate the losses.

With inflation below its peak two summers ago, Wall Street is hopeful that the Federal Reserve will finally end its market-shaking interest rate hikes and could soon move to cut rates. That could help the economy avoid a recession and give a boost to all kinds of investment prices.

Tuesday’s report showed that employers announced just 8.7 million jobs on the last day of October, 617,000 fewer than the previous month and the lowest level since 2021.

A separate report said activity in U.S. service industries expanded for the 41st time in the past 42 months, with growth reported across the board from agriculture to wholesale trade. Strength there has offset weakness in the manufacturing sector.

In the bond market, Treasury yields continued to fall from the highs they reached in late October.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.19% from 4.26% late Monday, offering more room for stocks and other markets. During October it had been above 5% and at its highest level in more than a decade.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks the Federal Reserve’s expectations, rose unevenly following the economic reports. It fell from 4.61% just before the reports were released to 4.57% and then rose before falling again to 4.55%.

Traders widely expect the Federal Reserve to hold its key interest rate steady at its next meeting next week, before potentially cutting rates in March, according to CME Group data.

Federal Reserve officials have recently hinted that the federal funds rate may already be at its peak. It is above 5.25%, up from almost zero at the beginning of last year. But Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and others have also warned Wall Street not to be overzealous in their predictions about how soon a cut could occur.

Lower yields have been one of the reasons cryptocurrency prices have risen recently. Excitement over a potential bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund, which would open it up to new types of investors, has also helped push it above $43,000 recently.

In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil added 1 cent to $72.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 13 cents to $77.33 a barrel.

The US dollar fell to 147.04 Japanese yen from 147.15 yen. The euro fell to $1.0791 from $1.0797.