Asian stock markets rise after positive U.S. trading session

Stock markets across Asia saw gains on Thursday, riding the wave of an upbeat trading day on Wall Street where company earnings reports and encouraging economic news pushed indexes higher.

Tokyo led the regional rally with the Nikkei 225 climbing 1.5% to reach 50,959.14. Nissan Motor saw its shares go up 1.3% after announcing plans to sell its Yokohama headquarters building to bring in money. The automaker was set to release its earnings report later that day.

Other markets in the region also posted gains. South Korea’s Kospi went up 1.2% to 4,054.15, and Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.6% to 26,361.40, while the Shanghai Composite index moved up 0.9% to 4,004.25.

Not all stocks in the region performed well, though. Two companies focused on self-driving cars had rough debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Pony.ai dropped 13% while WeRide’s shares tumbled 13.7% on their first day of trading as reported by AP news.

Wall street recovery boosts sentiment

The positive mood in Asia came after Wednesday’s trading in the United States, where stocks recovered from losses the day before. Technology companies with large market values played a big role in moving the market.

Alphabet, which owns Google, jumped 2.4%. Broadcom went up 2%, and Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, rose 1.4%. These gains helped push the market higher even though some other big tech names like Nvidia and Microsoft saw their shares drop.

The S&P 500 finished up 0.4% at 6,796.29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to close at 47,311. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to end at 23,499.80.

Investors paid close attention to company earnings and future outlook statements, with results coming from many different types of businesses.

McDonald’s shares rose 2.2% after the fast-food chain said sales got a lift from bringing back its Snack Wraps in the third quarter. International Flavors & Fragrances saw its stock jump 4.1% after its quarterly profits came in better than what Wall Street analysts had predicted.

Some companies didn’t fare as well. Axon Enterprise, which makes Tasers, fell 9.4% after telling investors its future profits would be lower than expected. Live Nation Entertainment dropped 10.6% when its latest results came in below what analysts had forecast.

These earnings reports have become more important because of the government shutdown, which has stopped the release of key monthly reports on inflation and jobs. Without this information, investors, economists, and the Federal Reserve are missing important details about how the economy is doing.

Some private reports are still available. ADP released its monthly report showing that private companies added more jobs than expected in October. While this gives some insight into the job market, there are growing worries that hiring is slowing down overall, which could hurt economic growth.

Federal reserve faces difficult choices

The Fed’s watching the job market with growing unease. At its last meeting, the central bank cut its key interest rate for the second time this year, a move aimed at propping up an economy where hiring has slowed considerably. Lower borrowing costs should, in theory, encourage spending. The catch? They can also fuel inflation.

That’s the bind Jerome Powell and his colleagues find themselves in. They’re wary of cutting too aggressively while inflation still runs hot. The Fed’s target is 2%, but consumer prices climbed 3% in September.

Businesses and shoppers also face uncertainty from tariffs. President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China, Canada, and other countries have been hard to predict, making it tough to figure out how much higher prices will affect people. The U.S. Supreme Court listened to arguments Wednesday about whether the wide-ranging tariffs are legal.

In early Thursday trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil went up 26 cents to $59.86 per barrel. Brent crude, used as the international standard, added 25 cents to $63.77 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar dropped to 153.85 Japanese yen from 154.11 yen. The euro increased to $1.1510 from $1.1494.

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