BANGKOK– Asian shares rose on Wednesday after most Wall Street shares fell following a mixed set of reports on the US economy.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.9% to 16,477.34, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% higher at 2,968.93.
The gains followed the previous day's sell-off on concerns about the health of China's economy, the world's second-largest.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 2% to 33,445.90 after a top central bank official reiterated the Bank of Japan's determination to maintain its accommodative credit policy until it reaches stable inflation levels.
In Seoul, the Kospi rose less than 0.1% to 2,495.38. The Australian S&The P/ASX 200 rose 1.7% to 7,178.40.
India's Sensex gained 0.3% and Bangkok's SET rose 0.7%.
On Tuesday the S&The P500 fell 0.1% lower for its first consecutive loss since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq index rose 0.3%.
U.S. stock and government bond yields wobbled after reports showed employers advertised far fewer job openings than expected in late October, while services sector growth accelerated more than expected last month.
That kept the question alive about whether the U.S. economy can achieve a perfect landing that eliminates high inflation but avoids a recession.
On Wall Street, KeyCorp fell 3.7%, sparking a slump for bank stocks after it cut its forecast for fee and other non-interest income. But gains of more than 2% for Apple and Nvidia, two of the market's most influential stocks, helped blunt the losses.
With inflation down from its highs two summers ago, Wall Street is hopeful that the Federal Reserve will finally finish its market-shocking rate hikes and start cutting rates soon. That could help the economy avoid a recession and boost all kinds of investment prices.
Tuesday's report showed employers advertised just 8.7 million jobs on the last day of October, down 617,000 from a month earlier and the lowest level since 2021.
A separate report said activity for the U.S. services sector increased for the 41st time in the past 42 months, with growth reported by everything from agriculture to wholesale. The strength there has offset the weakness in production.
In the bond market, government bond yields continued to decline from the highs they reached at the end of October.
The yield on the 10-year government bond fell to 4.19% from 4.26% late Monday, providing more breathing room for stocks and other markets. In October, interest rates were above 5% and at the highest level in more than a decade.
Two-year Treasury yields, which are more closely tracking Fed expectations, moved erratically following the economic reports. It dropped from 4.61% just before the reports were released to 4.57%, then yo-yoed before falling back to 4.55%.
Traders widely expect the Federal Reserve to hold its key interest rate steady at its next meeting next week before possibly cutting rates in March, data from CME Group shows.
Fed officials have recently hinted that the federal funds rate may indeed already be at its peak. It is above 5.25%, compared to almost zero at the beginning of last year. But Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and others have also warned Wall Street against being overzealous in their predictions about how early a rate cut could happen.
Lower returns have been one of the reasons why cryptocurrency prices have risen lately. Excitement over a possible exchange-traded fund tied to Bitcoin, which would open it up to new types of investors, also recently helped push it above $43,000.
In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude added 1 cent to $72.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 13 cents to $77.33 a barrel.
The US dollar fell from 147.15 yen to 147.04 Japanese yen. The euro fell from $1.0797 to $1.0791.
