BANGKOK (AP) – Shares fell in most Asian markets on Friday after China reported stronger-than-expected price gains, which could prompt authorities to step in to cool inflation.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 index rebounded from a drop from the day before. Shares in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Seoul have fallen.
On Thursday, shares on Wall Street closed slightly higher, buoyed by gains in major tech companies benefiting from lower bond yields. But an increase in jobless claims reduced some of the buying enthusiasm.
China reported that consumer prices rose in March due to a rise in fuel prices, while producer prices rose the fastest in more than four years.
The consumer price index rose 0.4% in March from minus 0.2% in February, as fuel prices rose nearly 12% from a year earlier. Prices paid by manufacturers rose 4.4% year-on-year.
Inflation reflects rising demand as the Chinese economy leads the global pandemic recovery. Concerns that stronger growth could spur inflation, which would then cool regulators in many major economies, in part by raising interest rates, have dominated markets in recent months.
In addition, a new round of US sanctions, this time against seven Chinese supercomputer manufacturers, has revived concerns about trade friction between the two largest economies, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda.
“Asian markets are again taking a more cautious stance today. Geopolitics is never far from the surface, even if it is often lost in the global recovery clutter, ”Halley said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP,
lost 1% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong HSI,
fell 1.3%. Australia S & P / ASX 200 XJO,
gave 0.2% and the Kospi 180721,
in Seoul fell by 0.3%.
Nikkei 225 NIK from Japan,
rose 0.2%.
Shares in Sony Corp. SONY,
rose 2.7% after the company signed an exclusive movie distribution agreement with Netflix NFLX,
On Thursday, the S&P 500 index has SPX,
Up 0.4% to 4,097.17, another record high after records on Monday and Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
achieved 0.2%, to 33,503.57. The technically demanding Nasdaq Composite COMP,
climbed 1% to 13,829.31.
Shares of small companies, which outperformed the broader market this year, also performed well. The Russell 2000 index RUT,
of smaller companies rose by 0.9% to 2,242.60. The index is up 13.6% so far this year, while the S&P 500, which tracks large companies, is up 9.1%.
Stocks have benefited this week as bond yields, which had steadily risen, pulled back from the highs reached earlier in the month.
The return on the 10-year US Treasury TMUBMUSD10Y,
affecting interest rates on mortgages and other loans fell to 1.63% from 1.65% at the end of Wednesday. It was as high as 1.75% Monday.
That drop in interest rates has put some pressure on technology stocks, which have fallen in recent months as interest rates increased, making those stocks look pricey. The industry has also seen choppy trading as investors shift more money to companies that will benefit from the economic recovery.
Apple AAPL,
rose 1.9%, Microsoft MSFT,
got 1.3% and Amazon AMZN,
0.6% added.
Investors are showing cautious optimism about the economic recovery, especially in the US, where vaccine distribution is increasing and President Joe Biden has brought forward the deadline for states to make doses available to all adults to April 19.
But it is clear that the recovery has a long way to go. The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits last week rose again last week as many businesses remain closed or partially closed due to the pandemic.
In his comments to the International Monetary Fund, Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said a number of factors put the nation “on track to allow for a full reopening of the economy quite soon.”
In other trade, US benchmark crude oil CL.1,
rose 11 cents to $ 59.71 a barrel in electronic commerce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 17 cents to $ 59.60 on Thursday. Brent raw BRN00,
the international standard, fell 2 cents to $ 63.18.
The US dollar rose to 109.32 Japanese yen USD / JPY,
from 109.25 yen. The euro EURUSD,
dropped from $ 1,1917 to $ 1,1904.