BANGKOK (AP) — Shares retreated in Asia on Thursday after a third straight day of losses on Wall Street as its long, record-breaking rally lost more steam.
Oil prices gained almost $1 and U.S. futures were mixed.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed larger early gains, ending 0.1% higher at 38,143.29 as purchasing manager indexes showed worsening conditions in Japan for both manufacturing and services. The overall composite PMI compiled by au Jibun Bank fell to a two-year low.
“Japan’s private sector fell into contraction territory at the start of the fourth quarter of the year,” Usamah Bhatti, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a commentary. “Confidence about business activity growth in the next 12 months softened in October and was the least pronounced since August 2020.”
Chinese markets declined, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng losing 1.1% to 20,531.19, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.8% to 3,277.35.
In Seoul, the Kospi gave up 0.7% to 2,581.03 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,206.30.
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.6% and the Sensex in India edged 0.1% lower. Bangkok’s SET declined 0.3%.
“A cocktail of worries about China’s economic outlook and a contentious U.S. presidential election weighed heavily on market sentiment,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 sank 0.9% to 5,797.42. Its recent pullback follows six straight winning weeks, its longest such streak this year.
Stocks are sagging under rising pressure from Treasury yields. Higher yields can make investors reluctant to pay high prices for stocks, which critics say already look too expensive after they rose faster than corporate profits.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% to 42,514.95, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.6% to 18,276.65. Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks were among the market’s heaviest weights.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose again to 4.23% from 4.21% late Tuesday and from just 4.08% Friday.
Treasury yields have been climbing after a raft of reports have shown the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. That’s good news for Wall Street, because it bolsters hopes that the economy can escape from the worst inflation in generations without the painful recession that many had worried was inevitable.
McDonald’s dropped 5.1% after federal health officials linked its Quarter Pounder burgers with an E. coli outbreak that’s affected at least 49 people in 10 states. Investigators are still trying to find what specific ingredient is contaminated, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said McDonald’s stopped using fresh slivered onions and quarter pound beef patties in several states as it investigates.
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