For free, real-time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our breaking news emails
Sign up for our free breaking news emails
Stock markets in Asia were mixed on Friday after Wall Street hit new records, led by big gains from chipmakers.
Japan's Nikkei 225 topped 41,000 for the first time early Friday, but then fell back to close 0.2% lower at 40,888.43.
Chinese real estate and technology companies weighed on markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2% to 16,527.85 and the Shanghai Composite fell 1% to 3,048.03.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 7,770.60. India's Sensex rose 0.3% to 72,855.32.
Bangkok's SET fell 0.1% and Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.2%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 5,241.53, hitting an all-time high for the third straight day. Three out of four stocks in the index rose.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 39,781.37 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 16,401.84. Both indexes were added to the records created the day before.
Micron rose 14.1%, leading chipmakers higher, after reporting significantly better-than-expected results for its latest quarter. It also gave a profit forecast for the current quarter that beat analysts' estimates as the company benefits from the rush to artificial intelligence.
Chipmaker Broadcom climbed 5.6%, its size making it an even stronger force pushing the S&P 500 higher. A day earlier, the company held an investor presentation about its AI capabilities. A general hype about AI technology on Wall Street has catapulted some stocks to dizzying heights.
Reddit rose 48.4% in its debut as a public stock. The eclectic bazaar of online communities offered its shares at an initial price of $34 per share.
They helped more than offset Apple's 4.1% decline after the Justice Department announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker. The tech giant has been accused of building an illegal smartphone monopoly that excludes competitors and stifles innovation.
Accenture was another heavyweight in the market after falling 9.3%. The consulting and services company reported higher profit than analysts expected for its latest quarter. However, its profit forecast for the full fiscal year fell short of estimates.
Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants fell 6.5% after its full-fiscal sales forecast fell short of analysts.
Treasury yields remained broadly stable a day after the Federal Reserve said it still expects to cut interest rates three times this year. That helped ease some worries on Wall Street that it would take some rate cuts off the table after some higher-than-expected inflation reports.
Lower interest rates would ease pressure on the economy and financial system. Wall Street expects the Fed to begin cutting interest rates at its June meeting.
Some reports Thursday morning suggested the U.S. economy is doing better than expected despite high interest rates. Fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, another sign of a remarkably robust labor market.
A measure of manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly increased, while a preliminary look at production nationwide also came in better than expected.
Wall Street will get its next big inflation update next week when the U.S. releases personal consumption and spending data for February. It is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation. Overall, inflation has declined through several measures since peaking in mid-2022, although progress stalled in the first two months of this year.
The Swiss National Bank announced a cut in its key interest rate, a surprise move that makes Switzerland the first major financial center to announce a cut in recent months. The Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high and avoided signaling when it might start cutting, even though inflation has fallen sharply.
In other trading early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 53 cents to $80.54 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 54 cents to $84.70 a barrel.
The US dollar fell to 151.39 Japanese yen from 151.65 yen. The euro fell from $1.0861 to $1.0822.
Comments are closed.