Current:Home > InvestStock market today: Asian markets advance after Wall Street logs its best week in nearly a year -Blueprint Money Mastery
Stock market today: Asian markets advance after Wall Street logs its best week in nearly a year
View
Date:2025-04-11 23:02:13
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! (161)
Related
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Pakistan's floods have killed more than 1,000. It's been called a climate catastrophe
- Desperate Housewives Child Star Madison De La Garza Recalls Eating Disorder at Age 7
- Target's Spring Designer Collections Are Here: Shop These Styles from Rhode, Agua Bendita, and Fe Noel
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- Renewable energy is maligned by misinformation. It's a distraction, experts say
- Factual climate change reporting can influence Americans positively, but not for long
- Authorities search for grizzly bear that attacked woman near Yellowstone National Park
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- These hurricane flood maps reveal the climate future for Miami, NYC and D.C.
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- Pregnant Peta Murgatroyd and Maks Chmerkovskiy Surprise Son With Puppy Ahead of Baby's Arrival
- Data centers, backbone of the digital economy, face water scarcity and climate risk
- Alpine avalanche in Italy leaves 7 known dead
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Ecologists say federal wildfire plans are dangerously out of step with climate change
- Climate change is forcing Zimbabwe to move thousands of animals in the wild
- Renewable energy is maligned by misinformation. It's a distraction, experts say
Recommendation
Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
Humans must limit warming to avoid climate tipping points, new study finds
As a heat wave blankets much of the U.S., utilities are managing to keep up, for now
Get an Instant Cheek Lift and Save $23 on the Viral Tarte Cosmetics Blush Tape and Glow Tape Duo
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
We’re Not Alright After Learning Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson Might Be Brothers
Five orphaned bobcat kittens have found a home with a Colorado wildlife center
Fires scorch France and Spain as temperature-related deaths soar