Stock Market Today: Asian Shares Start Week With Gains
Apple's report of better profit than expected has spurred a rally on Wall Street, which has in turn led to mostly higher Asian shares.
NEW YORK, NY (AP) - Asian shares rose mainly on Monday following a Wall Street rally sparked by Apple's better than expected profit report.
Tokyo's benchmark fell when markets reopened following several days of holiday, while markets in China rose.
Reports show that hiring in the economy accelerated much faster than anticipated last month. The government's report on jobs also revealed that workers received larger pay increases than expected.
Stephen Innes, of SPI Asset Management, said that such trends have helped to calm fears about a recession, even though time is running out for an agreement on the U.S. Government debt ceiling.
'But anxiety has been building up early this time, and shifted to high gear last weekend after Secretary Yellen said that a default may occur as soon June 1,' he stated.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to 28,951.08.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 0.8% to 20,199.67, while the Shanghai Composite index soared 1.6% to 3386.59. South Korea's KOSPI jumped by 0.9% to 2,522.33, and the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney gained 0.7% to 7,272.30.
The S&P 500 rose 1.8% on Friday to 4,136.25. However, it posted a modest weekly loss, its worst for nearly two months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7% to 33674.38 and the Nasdaq gained 2.2% to 12235.41.
The Federal Reserve may have to increase interest rates in order to combat the high inflation, which is already causing an economy to slow down.
The Fed stated Wednesday that it was unsure of its next step after increasing its benchmark rate from nearly zero to a range between 5% and 5.25%. Many traders believe the Fed will hold rates at its next June meeting, the first time in over a year.
The U.S. financial system has already begun to crack due to high interest rates. First Republic Bank was seized by regulators last week. It became the third major U.S. banking failure since March.
Investors are looking for any possible weak links in the system, and they have driven down the stock prices of those companies that may be at risk of an abrupt exodus from customers. PacWest Bancorp was one of those that recovered from their heavy losses on Friday. The stock price soared 81.7%. The stock was down 43.3% on the week. Western Alliance Bancorp. Western Alliance Bancorp.
Uncertainty has been raised by the turmoil in the U.S. Banking Industry. If banks reduce their lending, it could be interpreted as a rate increase and further slow the economy.
Apple, the largest stock on Wall Street gained 4.7% Friday, which helped to boost the S&P500. Apple's revenue and earnings fell, but they still exceeded analysts' modest expectations.
On Monday, the New York Mercantile Exchange's electronic trading saw benchmark U.S. crude rise 8 cents per barrel to $71.42. On Friday, it jumped $2.78 to $71.34 a barrel.
Brent crude, which is the international standard for pricing, has increased by 7 cents, to $75.37 a barrel.