TOKYO – Asian stocks fell mainly on Thursday, cautiously in corporate earnings reports, recent hectic trades in technology stocks and prospects for further economic stimulus for a world fighting a pandemic.
Nikkei 225 NIK from Japan,
fell 0.5% at the start of trading, while Kospi 180721 from South Korea,
fell 1.6%. S & P / ASX 200 XJO from Australia,
fell 0.6%. Hong Kong Hang Seng HSI,
lost 1.2%, while Shanghai Composite SHCOMP,
fell 1%. Shares rose in Indonesia JAKIDX,
and Malaysia FBMKLCI,
but it fell in Singapore STI,
and Taiwan Y9999,
Also in the minds of market participants is the global launch of the vaccine, which is becoming more organized in the United States, but is still expected to occur in much of Asia, except in China, where the pandemic began.
“As the recovery has slowed for the US market, Asian markets can be seen on their own in Thursday’s session, and it looks like investors may be blocking some of the recent gains,” said Jingyi Pan, a strategist with senior market in Singapore.
Wall Street ended with modest gains, with the S&P 500 SPX,
advanced 3.86 points, or 0.1%, to 3,830.17, after oscillating between a 0.6% gain and a 0.3% loss. The small gain extended the benchmark winning streak to a third day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
gained 36.12 points, or 0.1%, to 30,723.60. The high-tech Nasdaq COMP,
fell 2.23 points, or less than 0.1%, to 13,610.54. The index was briefly above its historical record last week.
Energy, communications and financial actions helped to raise the market. These gains were mainly controlled by declines in companies that depend on consumer spending and technology stocks.
GameStop and other recently-rising stocks saw modest gains on Wednesday. GameStop GME,
rose 2.7% and AMC AMC,
rose 14.7%. The shares were caught in a speculative frenzy by traders on online forums looking to inflict damage on the Wall Street hedge funds that bet the shares would fall. GameStop plunged 60% on Tuesday and AMC Entertainment lost 41.2%.
“There is a tug of war that has been brewing for about a week, that markets are ripe for a correction and whether last week’s events are precipitating,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.
The stock has rebounded mainly this week, an encouraging start to February, after a late fall in January, when volatility soared amid concerns about the timing and scope of another round of stimulus spending by the Biden administration and swings GameStop and other actions promoted on social networks.
That volatility has eased this week, with Wall Street focusing mainly on corporate earnings reports, while keeping an eye on Washington for signs of progress on a new aid package.
Democrats and Republicans remain aloof in support of President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package, but investors are betting the government will opt for a reconciliation process to pass legislation in Congress.
In the energy trade, US crude CLH21 benchmark,
earned 15 cents for 55.84% a barrel. Brent crude BRNJ21,
the international standard added 6 cents to $ 58.52 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar USDJPY,
decreased to 105.02 Japanese yen from 105.06 yen.