Asian stocks rose mainly on Thursday, after the shares recorded small gains on Wall Street, after a series of mixed reports on the economy.
Benchmarks increased in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney.
Shares fell in Shanghai after China’s market regulator said it launched an anti-monopoly investigation by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group 9988,
NANNY,
stepping up official efforts to increase control over the country’s rapidly growing technology industries.
China is also stepping up its scrutiny of community group buying practices, calling on some of the country’s biggest technology companies for discussions as part of the anti-monopoly effort.
The State Administration of China for Market Regulation also recently convened six companies, including Alibaba and other e-commerce platforms, such as JD.com JD,
and Pinduoduo PDD,
games company Tencent 700,
food delivery company Meituan 3690,
and travel-sharing company Didi Chuxing to talk about the potential ramifications of buying in community groups.
The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP index,
lost 0.2%. Shares also fell on the smaller market in Shenzhen 399106, in southern China,
But elsewhere, Christmas Eve negotiations were optimistic. Tokyo Nikkei 225, NIK index,
gained 0.4% on Thursday and at Hang Seng HSI,
in Hong Kong it increased by 0.2%. In South Korea, the Kospi 180721,
jumped 1.3% and Australia’s S & P / ASX 200 XJO,
rose 0.4%. Taiwan advanced actions Y9999,
and Singapore STI,
“While some portfolio reorganization in emerging Asia was expected before the holiday, the underlying theme is positive,” said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda in a comment.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 SPX,
increased 0.1% to 3,690.01. The benchmark broke a record on Thursday and rose 14.2% this year.
Financial gains, communications services, energy and other sectors were controlled by declines elsewhere, including technology companies, which helped pull the Nasdaq COMP,
slightly lower.
An hour before negotiations on Wall Street began, the government released an avalanche of data on the economy that showed some optimistic and several disappointing signs.
The Labor Department said fewer American workers filed for unemployment insurance last week. The number is still incredibly high compared to before the pandemic, but it was better than economists expected.
Another report said that orders for long-lived products strengthened more than expected last month, a good sign for manufacturers in the country.
But other reports have been darker. Consumers cut their spending more in the past month than economists expected. It was the first drop since April, mainly because income fell sharply in November, more than economists had predicted.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
0.4% added at 30,129.83.
The stock futures initially declined after President Donald Trump said he could not sign the $ 900 billion bailout for the economy that Congress approved on Monday night.
The markets’ hope was that the package could balance the economy until the broad vaccination could help the world get back to normal. The legislation includes one-time cash payments of $ 600 for most Americans, extra benefits for dismissed workers and other financial support.
Trump said on Tuesday that he wants to see larger cash payments going to most Americans, up to $ 2,000 for individuals. He also criticized other parts of the project.
But stocks eventually rose as investors looked beyond the unexpected reaction.
“Despite Washington DC’s pond agitation for vetoes, new votes and cancellations, Wall Street clearly believes that something positive will float to the top of the barrel when the unrest stops,” said Halley.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 0.95% from 0.90% on Tuesday.
In other negotiations, the US reference oil CLG21,
earned 12 cents for $ 48.24 a barrel in e-commerce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He won $ 1.10 to $ 48.12 on Wednesday. Brent gross BRNG21,
the international standard added 14 cents at $ 51.38 a barrel.
The USDJPY dollar,
it dropped to 103.52 Japanese yen from 103.54 yen on Wednesday night.