Asian equities were largely higher on Thursday, after equities made small gains on Wall Street, following a mixed set of reports on the economy.
Benchmarks have increased in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney.
Shares fell in Shanghai after China’s market regulator said it had launched an antitrust investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba Group 9988,
BABA,
stepping up official efforts to strengthen control over the country’s rapidly growing technology industries.
China is also stepping up its control over the practice of buying community groups, convening some of the country’s largest technology companies for talks as part of its anti-monopoly push.
China’s state market regulation administration also recently convened six companies, including Alibaba and other e-commerce platforms, such as JD.com JD,
and Pinduoduo PDD,
Tencent 700 game company,
food delivery company Meituan 3690,
and travel company Didi Chuxing to talk about the potential ramifications of buying community groups.
Shanghai SHCOMP Composite Index,
lost 0.2%. Shares also fell in the smaller market in southern China Shenzhen 399106,
But elsewhere, trading on Christmas Eve was optimistic. Nikkei Index 225 of Tokyo NIK,
gained 0.4% on Thursday and Hang Seng HSI,
in Hong Kong increased by 0.2% more. In South Korea, Kospi 180721,
increased by 1.3% and S & P / ASX 200 XJO in Australia,
increased by 0.4%. Advanced Stocks in Taiwan Y9999,
and the Singapore TSI,
“While some reshuffling of emerging Asian portfolios was expected before the holiday break, the core theme is a positive one,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a comment.
Wednesday, S&P 500 SPX,
increased by 0.1% to 3,690.01. The benchmark hit a record high on Thursday and has risen 14.2% so far this year.
Earnings in the financial sector, communications services, energy and other sectors were brought under control by declines elsewhere, including technology companies, which contributed to the withdrawal of Nasdaq COMP,
slightly lower.
An hour before Wall Street began trading, the government released an avalanche of economic data that showed some optimistic and some disappointing signs.
The Labor Department said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. The number is still incredibly high compared to before the pandemic, but it was better than economists expected.
Another report said orders for long-term goods were strengthened by more than expected last month, a good sign for the nation’s producers.
But other reports were gloomier. Consumers withdrew their spending more than last month than economists expected. It was the first drop in April and is mainly due to the fact that revenues fell sharply in November, more than economists had predicted.
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
added 0.4% to 30,129.83.
Stocks initially fell after President Donald Trump said he might not sign the $ 900 billion bailout for the economy, approved by Congress Monday night.
The hope in the markets was that the package could save money until large-scale vaccinations could help people return to normal. The legislation includes one-time cash payments of $ 600 to most Americans, additional benefits for laid-off workers, and other financial assistance.
Trump said late Tuesday that he wants to see higher cash payments to most Americans, up to $ 2,000 for individuals. He criticized other parts of the bill.
But stocks eventually headed upward, while investors looked beyond the unexpected setback.
“Despite the turmoil of the Washington DC pond by vetoes, new votes and oversupply, Wall Street clearly believes something positive will float to the top of the barrel when the turbulence stops,” Halley said.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.95% from 0.90% late Tuesday.
In other transactions, the US reference CLG21,
earned 12 cents to $ 48.24 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He earned $ 1.10 to $ 48.12 on Wednesday. Brent gross BRNG21,
the international standard, added 14 cents to $ 51.38 a barrel.
USDJPY dollar,
slipped to 103.52 yen from 103.54 yen late Wednesday.