TOKYO — Asian stocks were mostly lower on Thursday as investors grappled with uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.5% in early trading to 39,069.20 yen. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 8,153.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.3% to 20,433.83, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 3,258.04.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.2% to 2,562.07 after the South Korean government reported that North Korea had test-fired what it said was a new long-range missile intended to attack the U.S. mainland.
Details of the long-range missile capabilities North Korea was testing are not yet clear, but the launches were likely intended to attract U.S. attention ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election.
Market participants were also waiting for the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision, but analysts expect the Bank of Japan to maintain its policy going forward.
The scheduled announcement of financial results in Asia and other regions also added to the wait-and-see mood.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 5,813.67 after a series of small gains and losses, but remains close to its all-time high set in early October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to $42,141.54, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.6% to 18,607.93 from its all-time high set the day before.
Alphabet rose 2.8% in its latest quarter, beating analysts’ expectations, thanks largely to results from its Google business. This is the latest in a highly influential group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven” that have exceeded high expectations for growth.
Computer chip companies have been some of the biggest winners in the artificial intelligence rush, but Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reported its latest quarterly profit narrowly matched analysts’ expectations, contributing to an industry-wide stock slide.
Semiconductor giant Nvidia, which has quickly become one of Wall Street’s biggest and most influential stocks, fell 1.4%, making it one of the most heavily weighted stocks in the S&P 500.
One of the few stocks to fall by the same amount on the index was Eli Lilly, which fell 6.3% on concerns about two of the company’s blockbuster products, diabetes drug Munjaro and weight loss drug Zepbound.
Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, also fell. The company fell 22.3%, its worst loss since March when it merged with another company and listed on the Nasdaq stock market. The stock is notoriously volatile, having risen significantly from about $12 to as much as $40 in the last month.
In the bond market, yields rose slightly following the latest data on the US economy. According to preliminary U.S. government estimates, overall economic growth slowed from spring to summer. However, performance was slightly better than economists expected.
Wednesday’s report suggested that non-government employers accelerated hiring in October, when economists were predicting an economic slowdown. This could increase optimism for more comprehensive jobs data released by the U.S. government on Friday.
The economic slowdown is not surprising, as the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates significantly in hopes of putting enough brakes on the economy to curb inflation. The question is whether the Fed can keep the economy out of recession now that it has begun lowering interest rates to keep the job market strong.
Traders largely expect the Fed to cut the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point at its next meeting next week, according to data from CME Group.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.26% late Tuesday, from just 3.60% in mid-September.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 21 cents to $68.82 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 33 cents to $72.88 a barrel.
In currency trading, the dollar rose slightly from 153.31 yen to 153.48 yen. The euro was at $1.0853, gradually falling from $1.0858.
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AP Business Writer Stan Cho contributed.
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Yuri Kageyama appears on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
