BANGKOK (AP) – Shares fell in most Asian markets on Friday after China reported stronger-than-expected price growth, which could prompt authorities to take action to reduce inflation.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark index returned after falling the day before. Shares fell in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Seoul.
On Thursday, stocks closed moderately higher on Wall Street, boosted by earnings from large technology companies benefiting from lower bond yields. But rising unemployment has affected some of the buying excitement.
China reported that consumer prices rose in March due to rising fuel prices, while producer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than four years.
The consumer price index rose by 0.4% in March compared to minus 0.2% in February, as fuel prices rose by almost 12% from a year earlier. The prices paid by producers increased by 4.4% compared to a year earlier.
Inflation reflects rising demand as China’s economy drives the global recovery from the pandemic. Concerns that stronger growth could boost inflation, which regulators in many major economies would then cool, in part by raising interest rates, have outpaced markets in recent months.
In addition, a new round of US sanctions, this time against seven Chinese computer makers, has raised concerns about trade friction between the two major economies, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda.
“Asian markets are once again taking a more cautious stance today. Geopolitics is never far from the surface, even if it is often lost to the global noise of recovery, “Halley said in a report.
Shanghai SHCOMP Composite Index,
lost 1% and Hang Seng in Hong Kong HSI,
decreased by 1.3%. S & P / ASX 200 XJO from Australia,
gave up 0.2% and Kospi 180721,
in Seoul it fell by 0.3%.
Japanese Nikkei 225 NIK,
increased by 0.2%.
Shares in Sony Corp. SONY,
rose 2.7% after the company signed an exclusive movie distribution deal with Netflix NFLX,
On Thursday, the S&P 500 SPX index,
gained 0.4% to 4,097.17, another record high after records set on Monday and Wednesday. Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
gained 0.2% to 33,503.57. Nasdaq Composite COMP
increased by 1% to 13,829.31.
Shares of small companies, which have outpaced the wider market this year, have also performed well. Russell 2000 RUT Index,
of the smaller companies increased by 0.9% to 2,242.60. The index has risen 13.6% so far this year, while the S&P 500, which tracks large companies, has risen 9.1%.
Shares benefited this week as bond yields, which had risen steadily, retreated from the highs hit earlier this month.
Yield on the 10-year US Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y,
which influences interest rates on mortgages and other loans, fell to 1.63% from 1.65% late Wednesday. It had been up to 1.75% in months.
This decline in yields has put some pressure on technology stocks, which have declined in recent months as yields have risen, making those stocks seem expensive. The sector has also seen hectic trading as investors transfer more money to companies that will benefit from the economic recovery.
Apple AAPL,
increased by 1.9%, Microsoft MSFT,
gained 1.3% and Amazon AMZN,
added 0.6%.
Investors are cautiously optimistic about the economic recovery, especially in the United States, where vaccine distribution has risen, and President Joe Biden has advanced the deadline for states to make doses available to all adults by April 19th.
But it is clear that recovery has a long way to go. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose again last week as many companies remain closed or partially closed due to the pandemic.
In comments to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said a number of factors put the nation “on the right track to allow a complete reopening of the economy soon enough.”
In other transactions, US reference oil CL.1,
rose 11 cents to $ 59.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 17 cents to $ 59.60 on Thursday. Brent gross BRN00,
the international standard fell 2 cents to $ 63.18.
The US dollar rose to 109.32 Japanese yen USDJPY,
of the 109.25 yen. Euro EURUSD,
decreased to $ 1.1904 from $ 1.1917.