Asian shares mixed, but Hong Kong climbs as foreign travel measures ease
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after a post-holiday pullback on Wall Street as markets counted down to the end of a painful year for investors.
Stocks fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul, but rose in Hong Kong as the Chinese government took further steps to resume international travel after easing its strict “zero COVID” policy.
Crude oil prices rose and US futures rose.
The Chinese government has announced that it will start issuing new passports in another big step away from antivirus travel barriers. This could lead to a flood of tourists from China heading into next month’s Lunar New Year holidays, sending free money to Asia, Europe and other destinations in what is usually China’s busiest travel season. Take Chinese tourists to use.
However, the Indian and Japanese governments have said they will impose special precautions on those arriving from China due to the widespread outbreak of the virus in China. U.S. officials also expressed concern and said they were considering taking similar steps.
read: Chinese rush to fly abroad as Beijing lifts more travel restrictions
Hang Seng HSI in Hong Kong,
It rose 2% to 20,011.99. Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP,
It fell 0.2% to 3,000.23.
Nikkei 225 NIK in Tokyo, Japan
Japan’s industrial production fell 0.6% to 26,301.69 after the government reported that it fell for a third straight month in November and is likely to fall further in December. Kospi 180721,
In Seoul, it was down 2.2% to 2,282.26.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 XJO,
It fell 0.3% to 7,086.50.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 SPX,
Down 0.4% to 3,829.25, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA
It closed at 33,241.56 after registering a gain of 0.1%. NASDAQ COMP,
It dropped 1.4% to 10,353.23.
Russell 2000 Index RUT,
It dropped 0.7% to 1,749.52.
Technology and telecom services companies accounted for a large share of the S&P 500’s losers. Apple AAPL,
Down 1.4%, Netflix NFLX,
3.7% decrease.
Airline stocks fell sharply. A massive winter storm has caused widespread delays and forced several airlines to cancel flights over the weekend. Delta Air Lines DAL,
0.8% lower, American Airlines AAL,
Down 1.4%, JetBlue JBLU,
It fell 1.1%.
Southwest Airlines LUV,
The company is down 6% after having to cancel about two-thirds of its flights in the past few days due to issues related to staffing and weather. The federal government said it would investigate why the company is so far behind other carriers.
Tesla TSLA,
It fell 11.4% in the biggest loss among S&P 500 stocks. The electric car maker has temporarily halted production at its Shanghai factory, according to a published report.
US Treasury yields nearly rose as the US Treasury market reopened from the Christmas holidays. 10 year government bond yield TMUBMUSD10Y,
This impacted mortgage rates, rising to 3.85% from 3.75% late Friday.
Trading on Wall Street is expected to be relatively light this week with a shortened holiday as investors look ahead to 2023 after a disastrous year for stocks.
Investors are nervous due to uncertainty about how far the Federal Reserve and other central banks will go to combat the highest inflation in decades. The Fed has hiked key interest rates seven times this year and has hinted at further hikes in 2023, but the pace of price gains has slowed.
High interest rates, which weigh heavily on the prices of stocks and other investments, are fueling fears that the economy could slow too much and slip into a recession next year.
The benchmark S&P 500 index hit an all-time high in early January and is now down nearly 20% for the year. The tech stock Nasdaq fell nearly 34%.
In other trading on Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude CL.1,
In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil fell 20 cents to $79.37 a barrel. On Tuesday he dropped three cents to $79.53 a barrel.
Brent Crude Oil BRN00,
The price base for international trade fell 17 cents to $84.53 per barrel.
US dollar rose to 134.09 yen from 133.43 yen. The euro was trading at he $1.0640 to he $1.0643.