Stock market today: Asian markets mostly fall after Wall Street logs 3rd loss in a row
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares retreated in Asia on Thursday after a third straight day of losses on Wall Street as its long, record-breaking rally lost more steam.
Oil prices gained almost $1 and U.S. futures were mixed.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed early gains, trading flat at 38,104.86 as purchasing manager indexes showed worsening conditions in Japan for both manufacturing and services. The overall composite PMI compiled by au Jibun Bank fell to a two-year low.
“Japan's private sector fell into contraction territory at the start of the fourth quarter of the year,” Usamah Bhatti, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a commentary. “Confidence about business activity growth in the next 12 months softened in October and was the least pronounced since August 2020.”
Chinese markets also fell, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng losing 1% to 20,555.04 while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.5% to 3,286.17.
In Seoul, the Kospi gave up 0.2% to 2,593.57 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 8,225.90.
Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.5% and the Sensex in India edged 0.2% lower.
“A cocktail of worries about China’s economic outlook and a contentious U.S. presidential election weighed heavily on market sentiment,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 sank 0.9% to 5,797.42. Its recent pullback follows six straight winning weeks, its longest such streak of the year.
Stocks are sagging under rising pressure from Treasury yields. Higher yields can make investors reluctant to pay high prices for stocks, which critics say already look too expensive after they rose faster than corporate profits.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% to 42,514.95, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.6% to 18,276.65. Nvidia...