BANGKOK (AP) After U.S. markets ended last week with more records, Asian shares were largely lower Monday, with South Korea’s benchmark down 2.3%.
After rebels overthrew the Assad family’s 50-year iron reign, Syrian leader Bashar Assad sought sanctuary in Moscow, but it was unknown how this would affect global markets. While U.S. futures slightly declined, oil prices remained mixed.
South Korea’s political climate remained tight as local media claimed that police were thinking of banning President Yoon Suk Yeol from traveling abroad.After declaring martial law amid a budget conflict last week and then reversing it hours later, Yoon’s fate remained unclear.
Seoul’s Kospi fell 2.3% to 2,372.02.
Chinese stocks also declined, with the Shanghai Composite index dropping 0.4% to 3,390.62 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.6% to 19,753.26. Investors anticipate a significant economic planning meeting this week, which will establish the policy agenda for the upcoming months and potentially provide new stimulus for the second-largest economy in the world.
The Japanese yen strengthened vs the US dollar, causing Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index to rise 0.2% to 39,161.10. Early on Monday, the dollar was down from 150.07 yen to 149.94 yen. In order to combat the yen’s protracted decline versus the dollar and manage price hikes, traders are increasingly anticipating that the Bank of Japan would boost interest rates.
The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.2% to 8,400.80 in Australia. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.4%, while India’s Sensex slightly declined 0.1%. The SET was down 0.3% in Bangkok.
After reports indicated that the labor market is still strong enough to support the economy but not so robust that it immediately raises concerns about inflation, U.S. equities surged to all-time highs on Friday.
The S&P 500 closed a third consecutive winning week in what appears to be one of its greatest years since the 2000 dot-com bust, rising 0.2% to 6,090.27, just enough to record another all-time high. The Nasdaq composite increased 0.8% to establish a new record of 19,859.77, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 44,642.52.
Traders’ predictions that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates once again at its next meeting in two weeks were bolstered by the jobs report. Although it revealed that U.S. firms employed more workers than anticipated last month, the jobless rate unexpectedly increased from 4.1% to 4.2%.
After getting inflation almost all the way down to its 2% target, the Fed has begun lowering its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September in order to provide more support for the faltering labor market. While lower interest rates have the potential to boost inflation, they can also loosen economic restraints.
This year, the S&P 500 has risen 57 times to its highest level.
For the time being, it is hoped that the employment market will support American consumers’ spending and prevent the US economy from entering a recession that had previously appeared imminent due to the Fed’s rapid interest rate hikes intended to combat inflation.
Overall, retailers have been sending conflicting messages about how resilient American consumers might be in the face of a sluggish labor market and persistently high pricing.For instance, Walmart provided a far more positive prediction for the holiday shopping season than Target did.
According to a report released on Friday, consumer mood in the United States might be increasing more than analysts had anticipated. The University of Michigan survey’s preliminary reading reached its highest point in seven months. Certain products saw a spike in sales, according to the study, as buyers attempted to beat potential price rises brought on by increased tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump had threatened.
After reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, one of the S&P 500’s bigger gains, soared 10.6% in the tech sector. Because Salesforce and other large corporations highlighted the boost they’re receiving from the artificial intelligence development, tech stocks were among the strongest in the market this week.
In other transactions early Friday, Bitcoin was trading close to $99,600 after hitting a new high of almost $103,000 the day before.
In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of U.S. benchmark crude oil increased 31 cents to $67.51 a barrel. The global benchmark, Brent crude, dropped 7 cents to $71.05 a barrel.
The euro fell from $1.0561 to $1.0537.
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