Stock market today: Asian shares advance after inflation data drives a rally on Wall Street
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Asian shares mostly rose Thursday, following a rally on Wall Street driven by encouraging update on U.S. inflation. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.2% to 38,532.18. Bank of Japan data showed wholesale prices in Japan rose 3.8% in December last year compared to a year earlier, adding to pressures on the central bank to raise interest rates, possibly at a monetary policy meeting next week.
Shares in China were mixed. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.4% to 19,368.04, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.2% to 3,220.52. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.3% to 8,322.50. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.2% to 2,526.28. On Wall Street, strong profit reports from Wells Fargo and other big U.S. banks also helped launch indexes to their best day in two months.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.8% to 5,949.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.7% to 43,221.55, and the Nasdaq composite leaped 2.5% to 19,511.23. Bank stocks helped lead the way after several reported stronger profits for the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected.
Wells Fargo jumped 6.7%, Citigroup rallied 6.5% and Goldman Sachs gained 6%. They’re among the first big U.S. companies to report their results for the end of 2024, and even more focus may be on them than usual. Treasury yields eased following an update on how much more U.S. households had to pay in December for eggs, gasoline, housing and other costs of living. The report said overall inflation accelerated to 2.9% from 2.7% in November.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped back to 4.65% from 4.79% late Tuesday, which is a considerable move. It had largely been screaming higher since September, when it was below 3.65%. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed’s upcoming actions, fell to 4.26% from 4.37%.
