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BANGKOK, July 10 (AP) Asian stocks got off to a slow start to the week, trading mixed on Monday as China reported a drop in wholesale prices in June and other signs that the economy was slowing.
Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai, but fell in Tokyo and Sydney. U.S. futures and oil prices fell.
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Producer prices fell 5.4 percent in June from a 4.6 percent drop in May, pointing to further weakening of demand across many sectors as economic activity slowed in the world’s second-largest economy and growth in the U.S. and Europe gradually slowed. The purpose of raising interest rates is to curb inflation.
After an initial surge in growth, China’s economy has slowed faster than expected as it recovers from damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Chinese markets tend to react positively to signs of weakness in anticipation of possible stimulus measures that could lead to more money being invested in equities.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% to 18,510.77 and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,202.06.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 percent to 32,126.15 points, while Seoul’s Kospi fell 0.1 percent to 2,525.85. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 7,018.30.
India’s Sensex edged up 0.2%, while Bangkok’s SET index fell 0.1%.
As expected, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concluded a mending visit to Beijing without any major deal or breakthrough in strained relations. But Yellen said the relationship between the two countries was “on firmer footing” and that dialogue would continue despite disputes over a number of issues, including access to advanced technology, China’s territorial ambitions and allegations of human rights abuses.
Wall Street was mixed on Friday after data showed the U.S. job market remained warm enough to keep the economy growing but probably not hot enough to push inflation sharply higher. U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs last month, a slowdown from 306,000 in May.
Wage growth, for example, held steady last month, rather than slowing as economists expected. While workers would prefer average hourly earnings to rise 4.4% from a year earlier rather than the 4.2% forecast, Wall Street fears the Fed will see wage growth as too fast, putting upward pressure on inflation.
“Job growth is slowing. Not surprising after mass layoffs across the country,” ACY Securities’ Clifford Bennett said in a commentary. In short, while job growth is slowing, it’s not enough to make the Fed much happier. “
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 4,398.95, but advancers in the index slightly outnumbered decliners. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 33,734.88 and the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.1% to 13,660.72.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks rose 1.2%.
Much will depend on whether the economy can navigate a narrow path to avoid the long-forecast recession. It needs to keep growing despite the Fed setting higher interest rates to keep inflation down.
More recently, the Fed has been signaling that it may raise rates two more times this year before keeping rates high to ensure inflation returns to its 2% target. Wall Street widely expects the Fed to raise interest rates at its next meeting in three weeks.
Treasury yields were mixed after the highly-anticipated jobs data. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.07% from 4.05% late Friday. It helps set interest rates on mortgages and other important loans.
In other trading on Monday, U.S. benchmark crude fell 52 cents to $73.34 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price per barrel rose $2.06 to $73.86 on Friday.
Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trades, fell 50 cents to $77.99 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 142.82 yen from 142.17 yen. The euro fell to $1.0958 from $1.0967. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a syndicated news feed, the latest staff may not have modified or edited the body of content)
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