Stock market today: Asian shares rise buoyed by Wall Street rally from bonds and oil prices

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose Thursday, boosted by a cheaper yen that’s a plus for exporting economies in the region, although it recovered slightly in Asian trading.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.9% in morning trading to 30,794.97. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.5% to 6,925.50, while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6% to 2,420.74. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.6% to 17,295.62.

Trading was closed in Shanghai for Chinese national holidays, the Mid-Autumn Festival and China’s National Day, continuing through the rest of the week.

Oil prices declining overnight on Wall Street also came as positive news, although they regained some of the losses in Asian trading.

A cheaper yen works as a plus for Japan and other Asian economies by boosting the value of their nations’ exports when converted from dollars into yen.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to claw back more than half its sharp tumble from a day earlier, which sent it to a four-month low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 127 points, or 0.4%, a day after erasing the last of its gains for the year so far. The Nasdaq composite led the market with a gain of 1.4%.

Stocks have struggled since the summer under the weight of soaring Treasury yields in the bond market. High yields undercut stock prices by pulling investment dollars away from stocks and into bonds. They also crimp corporate profits by making borrowing more expensive.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, pulled back from its highest level since 2007, down to 4.73% from 4.80% late Tuesday. Shorter- and longer-term yields also eased to allow more oxygen for the stock market.

Yields fell following a couple reports indicating a slowing economy. The first suggested hiring by employers outside the government was much weaker last month than expected.

On Wall Street, that’s currently good news because a cooling job market could mean less upward pressure on inflation. That in turn could convince the Federal Reserve to take it easier on interest rates.

After already hiking its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001, the Fed has indicated it may keep its overnight rate higher next year than it had earlier expected. Treasury yields have correspondingly snapped higher as traders accept a new normal for markets of high rates for longer.

The Fed is paying particular attention to the job market because too much strength there could drive wages for workers much higher, which it fears could keep inflation well above its target of 2%.

Wednesday’s report from ADP suggested private employers added 89,000 jobs last month, a much sharper slowdown in hiring than the 140,000 that economists expected.

The report doesn’t have a perfect track record in predicting what the more comprehensive jobs report from the U.S. government will say. That will arrive on Friday.

But “if Friday’s report also shows the labor market is cooling, stock investors may worry a little less about indefinitely higher interest rates,” said Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office.

A second report on the economy said growth in U.S. services industries slowed in September by a touch more than economists expected.

It also offered some hints of sticky pressure on inflation, with prices paid by services companies rising last month at a similar rate as in August.

Wall Street is also absorbing the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as the speaker of the House of Representatives. The unprecedented move to remove a speaker from the position likely doesn’t change much in the short term, with funding for the U.S. government set until Nov. 17.

“That said, a leadership vacuum in the House raises the odds of a government shutdown when the current funding extension expires,” according to economists at Goldman Sachs.

A shutdown would drag on the U.S. economy, raising the risk of a recession, though financial markets have held up relatively well through past shutdowns.

Big Tech stocks helped to support the market after leading it lower a day earlier. They tend to move more sharply with expectations for rates because high-growth stocks are seen as some of the biggest victims of high yields.

A 5.9% jump for Tesla and 1.8% rise for Microsoft were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. Alphabet rose 2.1%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 34.30 points to 4,263.75. The Dow added 127.17 to 33,129.55, and the Nasdaq jumped 176.54 to 13,236.01.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 16 cents to $84.38 a barrel. It fell $5.01 to settle at $84.22 per barrel Wednesday, for its worst drop in just over a year. It has been been pulling back since topping $93 last week.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 25 cents to $86.06. Prices for crude had been generally charging higher from $70 during the summer following announcements of cuts to production by some oil-producing countries.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 148.41 Japanese yen from 149.02 yen. The euro cost $1.0525, up from $1.0509.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.