BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday after a seven-week winning streak on Wall Street cooled.
US futures were stable and oil prices rose.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.9% to 33,063.00 after the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged, as expected. The dollar rose against the yen, rising to 143.38 yen from 142.79 yen.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.8% to 7,486.90, while South Korea's Kospi was almost unchanged at 2,566.30.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6% to 16,527.75 and the Shanghai Composite Index fell less than 1 point to 2,930.18.
Bangkok's SET was also little changed, while Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.7%.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 4,740.56 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 14,904.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended essentially flat after most of a 0.2% gain faded by late afternoon, closing at 37,306.02.
Retailers and big technology companies were among the big winners. Amazon.com rose 2.7% and Etsy rose 4.7%, posting the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.
Chipmaker Nvidia rose 2.4%, while Meta added 2.9% and Netflix closed 3% higher.
Energy companies also rallied as the price of crude oil rose more than $1 amid growing concerns about attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea. Oil and natural gas giant BP has joined the growing list of companies that have halted shipments on the main trade route.
Valero Energy rose 2.6% and Marathon Petroleum added 2.3%.
US Steel soared 26.1% after agreeing to be acquired by Japan's Nippon Steel. The Pittsburgh steel mill played a key role in the country's industrialization. The all-cash deal is valued at about $14.1 billion, or $14.9 billion with debt. That's almost double what rival Cleveland Cliffs offered just four months ago.
Investors had to check other updates on corporate acquisitions. Adobe, the maker of Photoshop, rose 2.5% after announcing that it will end its plan to purchase Figma for $20 billion. Door maker Masonite International fell 16% after saying it will buy PGT Innovations in a deal valued at about $13 billion.
Treasury yields mostly rose. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.95% from 3.92% late Friday.
The broader market rose last week, adding to strong December gains after the Federal Reserve signaled that inflation may have cooled enough for the central bank to move on to cutting interest rates in 2024. The Dow closed last week with a record, while the S&P 500 ended the week with its longest weekly winning streak in six years, while approaching its all-time high.
The benchmark S&P 500 index is up more than 23% this year, while the Nasdaq is up more than 42%.
Lower interest rates typically ease pressure on financial markets. The Federal Reserve's goal since 2022 has been to slow the economy and reduce investment prices enough through high interest rates to control inflation. Economic growth has slowed, but has not fallen into a recession, while inflation continues to decline.
Wall Street is betting those conditions mean the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates and could begin cutting them in early 2024. Investors will get their last big inflation update of the year on Friday, when the government releases its report. on personal consumption expenses. It is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation and has been declining since mid-2022.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect the inflation measure to decline to 2.8% in November from 3% in October.
Investors will also have to check out some important earnings reports this week, which could give them a better idea of how companies and consumers are faring amid high interest rates and persistent inflation. Package delivery service FedEx will report its latest financial results on Tuesday and Cheerios maker General Mills will report its results on Wednesday. Sports shoe giant Nike will report its latest results on Thursday.
Early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 1 cent to $72.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 11 cents to $78.08 a barrel.
The euro rose to $1.0929 from $1.0925 late Monday.
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AP Business writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
