Asian markets mixed after Wall Street hits record highs on tech buying
Asian shares traded mixed on Friday following strong tech-driven gains on Wall Street, which pushed U.S. benchmarks to new record highs.
US. futures and oil prices were higher, News.Az reports, citing AP.
Markets have largely shrugged off the shutdown of the U.S. government after Democrat and Republican lawmakers failed to reach agreement on funding.
U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional leaders were not expected to meet again soon and the Democrats have held fast to their demands to preserve health care funding, warning of price spikes for millions of Americans nationwide.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose nearly 1.8% to 45,728.89 as tech stocks gained despite data showing Japan’s unemployment rate rose 2.6% in August, the highest in 13 months and above the expected 2.4%.
Shares in Hitachi jumped 9.2% after it signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI to provide cooling systems for its data centers.
Stocks in the computer chip and artificial-intelligence industries also have climbed this week after OpenAI announced partnerships with South Korean companies for Stargate, a $500 billion project aimed at building AI infrastructure.
Stock exchanges in China and South Korea were closed Friday for holidays.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed nearly 0.9% to 27,052.32, as traders sold to lock in profits from Thursday's gains.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added more than 0.3% to 8,977.80. India's BSE Sensex shed 0.2%, while Taiwan's Taiex rose 1%.
Thursday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to its all-time high set the day before, closing at 6,715.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 46,519.72, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4% to 22,844.05.
The government shutdown means this week’s usual report on jobless claims was delayed. An even more consequential report, Friday’s monthly tally of jobs created and destroyed across the economy, will likely also not arrive on schedule.
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