Asian benchmarks trade mixed ahead of US Fed chair's speech

Asian shares are trading mixed, despite some optimism following a rally on Wall Street on better-than-expected profit reports from major companies

Asian shares traded mixed Thursday, despite some optimism following a rally on Wall Street on better-than-expected profit reports from major companies.

Trading is likely to stay relatively quiet ahead of the annual conference of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will give a much-anticipated speech. The hope is he’ll offer clues about how deeply and quickly the Fed will begin cutting interest rates in September after it jacked them to a two-decade high to beat inflation.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6% in morning trading to 38,190.85. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 8,029.40.

South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.1% to 2,697.43. The Bank of Korea is holding its monetary policy meeting, where no rate action is expected, although views are divided on how the votes will go.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1% to 17,413.42, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed at 2,855.16.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% a day after breaking an eight-day winning streak, its longest of the year. The index is back to 5,620.85 — within 0.8% of its all-time high set in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 40,890.49, while the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 17,918.99. American companies continued to deliver what looks to be the best growth in profit for S&P 500 companies since late 2021.

Worries have been growing about whether shoppers in the United States can keep up their spending and keep the slowing economy out of a recession. Inflation is slowing, but prices are nevertheless much higher than before the pandemic.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury has been sinking since April on such expectations. It eased a bit further Wednesday, down to 3.79% from 3.81% late Tuesday.

A preliminary revision released by the U.S. government suggested the economy created 818,000 fewer jobs in the year through March than earlier reported. That’s a big number and adds to evidence showing a cooling job market.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 16 cents to $71.77 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, edged down 8 cents to $75.97 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 145.36 Japanese yen from 145.14 yen. The euro cost $1.1147, down from $1.1153.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama