Asian stock markets are higher as traders look for signs that trade may be disrupted due to tensions between the United States and China over an American lawmaker’s visit to Taiwan.
BEIJING, China (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Wednesday as traders looked for signs that trade would be disrupted due to US-China tensions over an American lawmaker’s visit to Taiwan.
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul advanced after Beijing announced a ban on imports of some Taiwanese goods but no immediate major penalties following the arrival of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Taiwan is claimed by the mainland’s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory, and foreign official contact with the self-ruled island democracy is prohibited.
“The real show of force by China is yet to come,” ACY Securities’ Clifford Bennett said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.4% to 3,198.38, while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo increased by 0.5% to 27,740.97. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.2% to 19,726.73.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.2% to 14,724.51 after Beijing announced a ban on citrus and some Taiwanese fish to protest Pelosi’s visit. The mainland announced military maneuvers in Taiwan’s vicinity but made no mention of punishing industries such as Taiwanese manufacturers of processor chips required by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones.
The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.5% to 2,452.91 while the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.4% to 6,969.90.
Markets in New Zealand and Southeast Asia increased.
The S& P 500 index fell 0.7% on Tuesday after the Labor Department reported that American employers posted fewer job openings than expected in June, following interest rate hikes to cool rising inflation.
Investors are concerned that the Federal Reserve’s and other central banks’ aggressive attempts to control inflation, which is at multi-decade highs, could stall global economic expansion.
S&P 500 dropped to 4,091.19 points. This week, it has decreased by almost 1%.
The decline of the earth-moving equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, which dropped 1.2% to 32,396.17, was a major factor in the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s decline. After reporting lower-than-expected revenue for the most recent quarter, the company’s stock dropped 5.8%.
To 12,348.76, the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.
According to the Labor Department, companies created 10.7 million jobs in June, which although down from the previous month’s 11.3 million, is still a strong number.
Before last year, there were never more than 8 million job opportunities in a single month. From December through May, however, there was a decline to 8 million in June.
Weak economic indicators from the United States have strengthened arguments that the peak in inflation has passed while also raising the possibility of a recession.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange’s computerized trading platform, benchmark U.S. crude lost 22 cents to trade at $94.20 per barrel in the oil sector. The contract increased by 53 cents to $94.42 the day before. In London, Brent crude dropped 30 cents to $100.24 a barrel. The price of a barrel increased by 51 cents the day before to $100.54.
The dollar dropped from 133 yen on Tuesday to 132.94 yen. The euro increased from $1.0174 to $1.0187.
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