TOKYO – Asian shares largely increased in early Wednesday trading, following the record rallies on Wall Street after the newest update on the employment market heightened hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will lower interest rates.
Japan’s key index, the Nikkei 225, climbed 0.5% in morning trading to reach 43,684.29. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up by 0.2% to 8,824.20, while South Korea’s Kospi surged by 1.3% to 3,303.51.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng went up by 0.7% to 26,131.20, whereas the Shanghai Composite saw little change, decreasing by less than 0.1% to 3,804.28. There remains a sense of uncertainty regarding U.S.-China tariff matters as bilateral discussions continue.
U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed increased taxes on imports from China, resulting in a retaliatory tariff conflict. Presently, the U.S. is imposing an additional 30% tariff on Chinese imports, and China is imposing a 10% tariff under a de-escalation agreement established in May.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose by 0.3%, surpassing its prior all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 196 points, or 0.4%, while the Nasdaq composite went up by 0.4%. They, too, reached record levels.
Investors have grown certain that the Federal Reserve will lower its main interest rate for the first time this year at its upcoming meeting in a week to support the slowing job market. A report on Tuesday highlighted the latest sign of weakness when the U.S. government announced that its previous job count across the nation up to March may have been overstated by 911,000, or 0.6%.
That was before President Donald Trump shocked the economy and financial markets in April by rolling out tariffs on countries worldwide.
The bet on Wall Street is that such data will convince Fed officials that the job market is the bigger problem now for the economy than the threat of inflation worsening because of Trump’s tariffs. That would push them to cut interest rates, a move that would give the economy a boost but could also send inflation higher.
A lot is riding on Wall Street’s hope that the job market is slowing by just the right amount: Investors have already sent U.S. stock prices to records because of it. Inflation also needs to stay at a reasonable level, even though it looks tough to get below the Fed’s target of 2%.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.08% from 4.05% late Monday.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 51 cents to $63.14 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 51 cents to $66.90 a barrel.
The rise in oil price has been relatively contained so far despite the escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Israel struck the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Qatar on Tuesday as the group’s top figures gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 147.31 Japanese yen from 147.37 yen. The euro cost $1.1705, down from $1.1714.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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