BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Monday after Wall Street capped its eighth straight week of gains with a quiet end following reports showing inflation was falling and the economy potentially rising.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 0.2% to 33,225.45 and Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.1%. The Bangkok SET rose 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3% to 2,905.79.
Most markets in the region and beyond were closed for the Christmas holidays.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to be less than 1% below its record set nearly two years ago, at 4,754.63. The Dow Jones fell less than 0.1% to 37,385.97 and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to 14,992.97.
With its eight consecutive weekly gains, the S&P 500 is in the midst of its longest winning streak since 2017.
Wall Street's attention was squarely focused on a series of economic reports released on Friday that caused some swings in Treasury yields.
The inflation measure the Federal Reserve prefers to use slowed more than economists expected, to 2.6% in November from 2.9% the previous month. It echoed other November inflation reports released earlier in the month.
US consumer spending unexpectedly rose during the month. While that's a good sign of growth for an economy driven primarily by consumer spending, it could also indicate that underlying pressure on inflation remains.
Other reports on Friday showed that orders for durable manufactured goods strengthened more than expected in November, new home sales weakened unexpectedly and U.S. consumer confidence improved.
The Federal Reserve is walking a tightrope, trying to slow the economy enough through high interest rates to cool inflation, but not so much that it falls into a recession. A stronger-than-expected economy could complicate the balancing act.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 3.90% Monday morning, about the same level as Friday night. It is still comfortably below October, when it was above 5% and put painful downward pressure on the stock market.
Falling yields have been the main reason why the stock market is up about 15% since the end of October. They not only boost the economy by encouraging borrowing, but also ease pressure on the financial system and raise investment prices. They have been tapering in hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates through 2024.
Traders are largely betting that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate by at least 1.50 percentage points by the end of next year, according to data from CME Group. The federal funds rate is currently within a range of 5.25% to 5.50%, its highest level in more than two decades.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 142.18 Japanese yen from 142.49 yen. The euro fell to $1.1007 from $1.1019.
