Asian shares mostly lower after mixed day on Wall Street | National
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A currency trader walks near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
Screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won are seen at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
A currency trader watches computer monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
A currency trader walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
FILE – This Nov. 23, 2020 file photo shows the New York Stock Exchange, right, in New York. Stocks are giving back some of their recent gains in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday, Feb. 17, not far below the record highs major indexes set in recent days.
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial companies offset other gains.
Shanghai advanced after reopening following the Lunar New Year holiday. Shares fell in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held near its highest level in a year, at 1.27%. Bond rates have risen on expectations that pandemic recoveries will push inflation higher, and that has capped buying enthusiasm, as investors have sold to lock in recent gains.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday that U.S. wholesale prices surged by a record 1.3% in January, led by big gains in health care and energy prices. The bigger-than-expected increase was the largest one-month gain on records that go back to 2009.
Underscoring signs of recovery, the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales soared a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in January from the month before, the biggest increase since June and much larger than forecast.
Optimism that rollouts of coronavirus vaccines will set the stage for stronger economic growth in the second half of this year have been pushing shares higher.
The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6% to 3,678.11 and the S&P/ASX 200 was flat, at 6,885.90. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to 30,236.09, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 1.2% to 30,725.47. In South Korea, the Kospi gave up 1.5% to 3,086.66.
