Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed as Wall St inches toward bull market
CTV
Asian shares were mixed Wednesday after a day of listless trading on Wall Street in the absence of market-moving data.
Asian shares were mixed Wednesday after a day of listless trading on Wall Street in the absence of market-moving data.
China reported its exports fell 7.5% from a year earlier in May and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs of a slowing of its economic recovery following the lifting in December of anti-virus controls that disrupted travel and commerce.
The decline in exports was the first year-on-year drop in in three months, with export volumes falling below their levels at the start of the year. "And with the worst yet to come for many developed economies, we think exports will decline further before bottoming out later this year," Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a commentary.
The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.1% to 3,192.41 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.7% to 19,232.94.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.8%, the sharpest decline in 12 weeks, to 31,913.74. Analysts said investors were selling to lock in recent gains.
In Seoul, the Kospi was nearly unchanged at 2,615.60, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% lower to 7,118.00. Shares rose in Taiwan but fell in Bangkok.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 4,283.85.That's just 0.2% away from finishing 20% above where it was in mid-October, as a long-predicted recession has yet to hit and excitement around artificial intelligence has helped a select group of stocks to soar.
