HONG KONG– Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after US benchmarks hit more records following the latest signs that the US economy may be slowing down without falling into recession.
US futures were mixed and oil prices fell.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2% to 38,570.86, while Japan’s May trade data showed exports rose 13.5% while imports rose 9.5% from a year earlier, boosted by rising prices and the weaker value of the yen against the US dollar.
The minutes of the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy meeting revealed a debate among its decision-makers about whether the yen’s weakness could further increase inflation. Governor Kazuo Ueda suggested increasing the benchmark interest rate in the coming months, depending on economic data at the time.
“Movements in the Nikkei have reflected a lot of indecision, with the index trading in a broad consolidation phase so far,” IG Asia said in a commentary.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 2.9% to 18,437.57, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4% to 3,018.05, after the head of China’s securities watchdog said at a forum financial institution in Shanghai that the agency would improve supervision of all financial activities to avoid potential risks.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% to 7,769.10. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.2% to 2,797.33.
Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Taiex gained 2%, while Bangkok’s SET fell 0.7%.
On Tuesday, S.&P500 added 0.3% to 5,487.03, setting an all-time high for the 31st time this year. The Nasdaq composite rose less than 0.1% to 17,862.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 38,834.86.
Nvidia was once again the star, gaining 3.5% and acting as the strongest force pushing the S&P500 and up. It again increased its total market value to more than 3 billion dollars.
Nvidia’s chips are helping develop AI, which proponents hope will change the world as much or more than the Internet, and demand for its chips has proven shockingly voracious. Nvidia’s revenue routinely triples every quarter, and its profit is soaring at even more impressive rates. Its shares are up nearly 174% this year, and Nvidia alone accounted for nearly a third of S&Total gain of P500 for the year up to May.
Of course, the potential danger of having a handful of superstars responsible for most of the U.S. stock market’s record trajectory is a more fragile market. If more stocks participated, it could be a sign of a healthier market.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.1% in May, below the pace economists had projected, while April sales were revised down – down 0.2% from unchanged. Sales rose 0.6% in March and 0.9% in February. This comes after sales fell 1.1% in January, driven in part by bad weather.
The weaker-than-expected data could be a warning sign that the main driver of the US economy, household spending, is failing. Inflation is still high, although it has slowed since its peak, and low-income families in particular, they are struggling to keep up with more expensive prices.
Still, a survey of global fund managers by Bank of America showed them to be the most bullish on stocks since autumn 2021, with relatively little cash stashing and heavy allocations to stocks. Fewer managers also call for a “hard landing,” where the economy falls into a severe recession.
In other trading on Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude oil gave up 20 cents to $80.51 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude lost 23 cents to $85.10 per barrel.
The dollar fell to 157.71 Japanese yen from 157.87 yen. The euro fell from $1.0738 to $1.0732.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
