Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1.8% to 32,224.68. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 7,126.70. South Korea's Kospi added 1.1% to 2,638.74. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.8% to 19,453.11. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,225.07.On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to carry it 20% above the bottom it hit in October. That means Wall Street's main measure of health has climbed out of a painful bear market, which saw it drop 25.4% over roughly nine months.
Declaring the end of a bear market may seem arbitrary, and different market watchers use different definitions, but it offers a useful marker for investors. It also provides a reminder that investors who can hold on through downturns nearly always eventually have made back all their losses in S&P 500 index funds.
A good chunk of this bull market's gains has been because the economy has refused to fall into a recession despite repeated predictions for one. It's withstood the highest interest rates since 2007, three high-profile collapses of U.S. banks since March, another threat by the U.S. government of an economy-shaking default on its debt and a series of other challenges.
Challenges remain. A report this week showed the highest number of U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week since October 2021.
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