Asian stocks were mixed in trading thinned by Thursday’s U.S. holiday, following gains on Wall Street that took American shares to a record high.
The dollar was little changed, amid further comments on Chinese and European currency manipulation by President Donald Trump. Shares in Japan and Australia rose, and fluctuated in Hong Kong, South Korea and China. Earlier, the S&P 500 climbed for a fifth day with U.S. stock investors piling into high dividend-yielding sectors like utilities and REITs after 10-year Treasury yields dipped to the lowest since November 2016. Trading volumes were well below average in Asia, as investors await Friday’s key U.S. employment report.
Asian Stocks
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4% as of 1:42 pm Tokyo time.
- Topix Index rose 0.6%.
- S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5%.
- Kospi Index rose 0.1%
- S&P 500 futures were little changed. The S&P 500 Index closed up 0.8%, hitting the highest on record.
- Hang Seng down 0.1%.
- Shanghai Composite down 0.3%.
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
- The euro increased 0.1% to $1.1285.
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 107.83 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 6.8748 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries closed down two basis points to 1.95% Wednesday. Futures were little changed in Asia Thursday.
- Australian 10-year yields were at 1.29%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.5% to $57.05 a barrel.
- Gold was flat at $1,418.88 an ounce.
