BANGKOK (AP) Following a decline in Wall Street stocks due to losses in technology sectors, shares were mixed in Asia on Thursday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 increased 0.8% to 8,473.30, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7% to 38,400.00.
After the central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate to alleviate economic pressure, South Korea’s Kospi remained steady at 2,503.01.
In addition to reducing its forecast for the nation’s economic growth from 2.2% to 2.4% this year and from 2.1% to 1.9% in 2025, the Bank of Korea dropped its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3%.
As investors sold to lock in profits from recent advances, Chinese shares sank.
The Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.3% to 3,299.87, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.3% to 19,344.07).
Thanksgiving will keep U.S. markets closed on Thursday. On Friday, they will return for a half-day.
Despite more index stocks ending higher than down, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 5,998.74 on Wednesday. The benchmark index’s seven-day winning streak was ended by the defeat.
After five advances, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its first loss of 0.3%, falling to 44,722.06. The Dow and S&P 500 are still close to the records they achieved on Tuesday.
Technology stocks make up a large portion of the Nasdaq composite, which dropped 0.6% to 19,060.48.
The market was hampered by losses for major tech companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Broadcom. Nvidia, a leader in semiconductors, dropped 1.2%. Due to its enormous worth, it has a significant impact on market indices. Broadcom ended the year 3.1% lower and Microsoft 1.2% lower.
Following their most recent earnings reports, a number of personal computer manufacturers also contributed to the market’s decline.
After providing investors with a lower-than-expected earnings outlook for the current quarter, HP fell 11.4%. After Dell’s most recent quarterly revenue below Wall Street projections, the company’s stock plunged 12.2%.
Market losses were lessened by gains for financial and healthcare firms. Berkshire Hathaway rose 0.9% and Merck & Co. added 1.5%.
The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy expanded at a healthy 2.8% annual pace from July through September, leaving its initial estimate unchanged. Strong consumer spending and a spike in exports were the main drivers of the expansion.
Consumers have been driving economic growth, but the latest round of earnings reports from retailers shows a mixed and more cautious picture.
Department store operator Nordstrom fell 8.1% after warning investors about a trend toward weakening sales that started in late October. Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters jumped 18.3% after beating analysts third-quarter financial forecasts.
Consumers are feeling the pinch of higher prices: The government s personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, rose to 2.3% in October from 2.1% in September.
Overall, inflation has been falling broadly since it peaked more than two years ago. The PCE, which is the Federal Reserve s preferred measure of inflation, was just below 7.3% in June of 2022. Another measure of inflation, the consumer price index, peaked at 9.1% at the same time.
The latest data suggest the decline in inflation is stalling as it nears the Fed s target of 2%. The central bank started raising its benchmark interest rate from near-zero in early 2022 to a two-decade high by the middle of 2023 and held it there until it began cutting it in September. A second cut followed in November.
Wall Street expects a similar quarter-point cut at the central bank s upcoming meeting in December, but President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China when he takes office in January. That could raise prices on many products, raising inflation and prompting the Fed to rethink future cuts to interest rates.
In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 15 cents to $68.57 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, also shed 15 cents to $72.15 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 151.56 Japanese yen from 151.12 yen. The euro fell to $1.0555 from $1.0567.
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AP Business Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
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