Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 23,479.15, shedding bigger early gains. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 7,162.50. and the Shanghai Composite index picked up 0.5% to 2,989.31. But South Korea's Kospi lost 0.7% to 2,195.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.2% to 27,611.67, while India's Sensex edged 0.1% higher to 41,365.80. Shares fell in Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore but rose in Jakarta.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 3,386.15, surpassing its record set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% to 29,348.03. The Nasdaq climbed 0.9% to 9,817.18 and also set a record."There is this assumption that the actual impact won’t be much, and if there is one, central banks will be able to step in and keep us alive.”
China cut its loan prime rate to 4.05% from 4.15% on Thursday, a move aimed at mitigating the economic damage from the Covid-19 sickness that is spreading mostly in China. Treasury yields rose Wednesday morning following a pair of stronger-than-expected reports on the US economy. One showed stronger housing construction data than economists expected, while another showed inflation was higher than expected on the wholesale level in January.
On Wednesday, they once again helped pace the market. Besides Apple’s 1.4% gain, Nvidia jumped 6.1% and Advanced Micro Devices rose 3.5%. As a group, tech stocks in the S&P 500 climbed 1.1% for the second-largest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the index.