Current:Home > InvestStock market today: Asian markets advance after Wall Street logs its best week in nearly a year -FundWay
Stock market today: Asian markets advance after Wall Street logs its best week in nearly a year
View
Date:2025-04-13 21:24:51
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares advanced Monday following Wall Street gains last week that were buoyed by hopes for early interest rate cuts.
U.S. futures were higher and oil prices gained as the Israeli military announced late Sunday that it had encircled Gaza City and cut the besieged coastal strip in two, fueling investors’ fears of a deepening conflict.
South Korean stocks surged 4.2% to 2,469.21, after the government restored a ban on short-selling, aiming to prevent illegal use of the trading tactic that is often used by hedge funds and investors. Short-selling refers to selling borrowed shares to profit from price declines.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 2.4% to 32,720.52.
However, the country’s services activity in October expanded at its slowest pace this year, raising concerns about weakness in a key sector driving Japanese economic activity.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.7% to 17,962.64 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.9% at 3,057.50. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 7,004.50. India’s Sensex was 0.6% higher and Bangkok’s SET gained 0.3%.
Wall Street steamrolled higher Friday as it closed out its best week in nearly a year.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, to 4,358.34. It rose every day last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% to 34,061.32, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4% to 13,478.28.
Stocks surged on rising hopes the Federal Reserve is finally done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates, meant to get inflation under control. A report on Friday underscored that pressure is easing on inflation after it showed employers hired fewer workers last month than economists expected.
Strong profit reports helped drive some stocks to towering gains. Generac, a maker of backup generators, soared nearly 28% for its best week since its stock began trading in 2010. At Expedia Group, another stronger-than-forecast report sent its stock nearly 22% higher for its best week since the market was surging out of the early 2020 coronavirus crash.
Stock have struggled under the weight of rapidly rising Treasury yields. Those yields were in turn catching up to the Fed’s main interest rate, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.
Higher rates and yields slow the economy, hurt prices for investments and raise the risk of something breaking within the financial system.
In the bond market, Treasury yields tumbled just after the jobs report, releasing more of the pressure that had built up on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.58% early Monday from its highest level since 2007, at more than 5%, two weeks earlier.
A separate report on Friday said growth in U.S. services industries, such as finance and construction, was weaker last month than economists expected.
Despite reporting stronger-than-expected profits, Apple, the most influential stock on Wall Street, fell 0.5%. Analysts said investors were likely disappointed with Apple’s forecast for revenue for the last three months of 2023.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil rose 45 cents to $80.96 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $1.95 to $80.51 per barrel Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 39 cents to $85.28 per barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 149.58 Japanese yen from 149.37 yen. The euro cost $1.0739, up from $1.0728.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- Utah's new social media law means children will need approval from parents
- Google's 'Ghost Workers' are demanding to be seen by the tech giant
- Women now dominate the book business. Why there and not other creative industries?
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Chemours’ Process for Curtailing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Produce Hazardous Air Pollutants in Louisville
- The U.S. condemns Russia's arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter
- ‘We’re Being Wrapped in Poison’: A Century of Oil and Gas Development Has Devastated the Ponca City Region of Northern Oklahoma
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Why Richard Branson's rocket company, Virgin Orbit, just filed for bankruptcy
Ranking
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Gwyneth Paltrow’s Son Moses Looks Just Like Dad Chris Martin in New Photo
- Inside Clean Energy: From Sweden, a Potential Breakthrough for Clean Steel
- Even Kate Middleton Is Tapping Into the Barbiecore Trend
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- The Justice Department adds to suits against Norfolk Southern over the Ohio derailment
- All of You Will Love All of Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's Family Photos
- NASCAR Addresses Jimmie Johnson Family Tragedy After In-Laws Die in Apparent Murder-Suicide
Recommendation
Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
‘We’re Being Wrapped in Poison’: A Century of Oil and Gas Development Has Devastated the Ponca City Region of Northern Oklahoma
What the bonkers bond market means for you
A judge sided with publishers in a lawsuit over the Internet Archive's online library
Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
In clash with Bernie Sanders, Starbucks' Howard Schultz insists he's no union buster
Inside Clean Energy: Arizona’s Energy Plan Unravels
Tom Brady Mourns Death of Former Patriots Teammate Ryan Mallett After Apparent Drowning