Stocks were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after Wall Street closed mostly lower as traders returned from the Labor Day holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index NIK, +0.89% rose 0.8%, while the Hang Seng HSI, -0.41% in Hong Kong rose 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite index SHCOMP, -0.04% dipped 0.2%. In Seoul, the Kospi 180721, -0.77% lost 0.7%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.24% lost 0.2%. Benchmarks indexes in Taiwan Y9999, -0.91%, Singapore STI, -1.23% and Indonesia JAKIDX, -1.72% declined.
Japan’s growth for April-June was revised up to an annual pace of 1.9% from a preliminary estimate of 1.3%.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is due to elect a new prime minister to succeed Yoshihide Suga, adding to uncertainty over future policy, more stimulus for the economy is expected in the coming weeks, analysts say.
Strong trade data from China on Tuesday failed to counter the dampening impact of a weak U.S. jobs report last week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 1.37%, while oil prices rose after falling overnight.
The pullback in stocks came as traders returned from the Labor Day holiday weekend to a relatively light week of economic data. The last big economic snapshot, the August jobs report, came in weaker than expected last Friday, but stocks only slipped modestly on the news.
“We’re still kind of digesting Friday’s weak job number and the potential impact that might have with the economy,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.34% fell 15.40 points to 4,520.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.76% dropped 269.09 points to 35,100, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite COMP, +0.07% rose 0.1% to 15,374.33, it’s fourth consecutive record high.
A rise in bond yields helped out bank stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.37% from 1.32% on Friday. Bank of America rose 0.7%.
Investors have a few economic reports on tap for the week.
On Wednesday, the Labor Department will report job openings for July. The jobs market is still struggling to recover from the pandemic and employers have been finding it difficult to fill openings amid lingering health fears and the resurgent virus could make it even more difficult.
On Friday, investors will get another update on inflation when the Labor Department reports on inflation at the wholesale level before costs are passed on to consumers.
In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil CLV21, +0.44% gained 12 cents to $68.47 per barrel. It lost 94 cents to $68.35 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude BRNX21, +0.32%, the international standard for pricing oil, edged 1 cent higher to $71.70 per barrel.
The dollar USDJPY, -0.09% was almost unchanged at 110.28 Japanese yen.
