Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices rose.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 rose Thursday after the number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week despite repeated increases in interest rates to quell inflation by slowing economic activity.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6%, to 3,092.50. The Chinese index is on track to end 2022 down more than 14% after the world’s second-largest economy was depressed by anti-virus controls and a crackdown on corporate debt.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.3% to 26,181.11. It is heading for an annual loss of approximately 10%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.8% to 19,918.58. It is more than 14% this year.
Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 7,056.60. India’s Sensex opened up 0.4%, at 61,133.88. New Zealand fell while Southeast Asian markets rose.
South Korean markets were closed for a holiday. The country’s benchmark Kospi Index is set to lose more than 25% for the year.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.7% to 3,849.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to 33,220.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.6% to 10,478.09.
Every major US index is heading for a loss in December. Companies in the S&P 500 posted record profits in 2022, but the index will end the year down about 20%, the biggest annual drop for the benchmark since 2008.
Investors are uneasy about a series of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to tame inflation, which has reached multi-decade highs. They worry central banks are ready to trigger a recession if necessary.
The Fed’s key lending rate stands in a range of 4.25% to 4.5% after seven increases this year. The US central bank expects it to reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023. Its forecast does not require a rate cut before 2024.
In energy markets, the price of US crude rose 29 cents to $78.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract fell 56 cents on Thursday to $78.40. Brent crude, used as the basis for the international oil trading price, rose 29 cents to $83.75 a barrel in London. It lost $1 in the previous session to $82.26 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 132.56 yen from 132.90 yen on Thursday. The euro fell to $1.0657 from $1.0677.
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