BEIJING, Aug. 19 (BNA) Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday after Wall Street rose as investors analyzed mixed economic signals ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve conference.
Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul retreated while Hong Kong advanced. Oil prices fell but remained above $90 a barrel, according to the Associated Press.
Wall Street rebounded after corporate results and lower-than-expected jobless claims suggest that the US economy has pockets of resilience despite repeated interest rate hikes.
Investors are concerned that the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia could derail global economic growth while raising rates to cool multi-decade inflation.
Oanda’s Edward Moya said in a report that the latest US data “may keep the door open for strong Fed tightening”.
The Shanghai Composite lost less than 0.1% to 3,274.59, and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell less than 0.1% to 28927.32. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 19,838.10.
Seoul’s Kospi fell 0.5% to 2495.03 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost less than 0.1% to 7110.40.
India’s Sensex Index opened less than 0.1% at 60,258.81. New Zealand, Bangkok and Singapore slipped while Jakarta rose.
Investors are looking to the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming next week for indications on when and to what extent the US central bank might raise interest rates.
The July Fed meeting minutes released this week said inflation remains very high and indicated that the central bank will continue to raise interest rates.
The Fed has raised interest rates twice this year by 0.75 percentage points, three times its usual margin. Forecasters expect an increase at the September board meeting, but say pressure for a similarly large increase has fallen as economic growth slows.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 4,283.74 after the Labor Department reported fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.
This followed data released on Wednesday which showed retail sales for the month of July were flat compared to the previous month despite concerns that inflation could curb consumers’ willingness to spend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 33,999.04. The Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent to 12,965.34.
Technology companies gained. Cisco Systems rose 5.8% after reporting strong results. Energy stocks also rose as crude oil prices rose in the United States. Devon Energy stock rose 5.9%.
In energy markets, benchmark US crude lost 38 cents to $90.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract rose $2.39 to $90.50 on Thursday. Brent crude, the price basis for international trading, fell 41 cents to $96.18 a barrel in London. It jumped $2.94 the previous day to $96.59.
The dollar rose to 136.28 yen from 135.91 yen on Thursday. The euro fell to $1.0078 from $1.0091.
insult