Stock market today: Asian shares slip after Wall St slumps despite strong US economic data
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Asian markets were mostly lower on Wednesday after shares slumped on Wall Street despite better-than-expected reports on the U.S. jobs market and business activity. U.S. futures and oil prices were higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat at 40,079.09. The Japanese yen weakened against the dollar, which was trading at 158.19 yen, up from 158.06.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.6% to 19,137.88 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.5% to 3,182.49. Shares of Tencent fell 2.1%, and shares in CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, dropped 1.4%. Both companies were included in a list released by the U.S. Defense Department linking them to China’s military.
Meanwhile, more uncertainties loom for the world's second-largest economy as potential tariffs and policy shifts are expected when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.2% to 2,522.75. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.7% to 8,348.60.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.1% to 5,909.03 after giving up an early gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4% to 42,528.36, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.9% to 19,489.68. Stocks dropped under the weight of rising yields in the bond market, which jumped immediately after the release of the encouraging reports on the economy. One said U.S. employers were advertising more job openings at the end of November than economists expected. The other said activity for finance, retail and other services businesses grew much faster in December than expected.
