BANGKOK (AP) โ Stocks mostly fell in Asia on Thursday after a modest advance on Wall Street that kept the market on track for a fourth straight weekly gain.
Markets in Japan and the United States are closed on Thursdays for holidays.
Oil prices fell about $1 a barrel after OPEC postponed a meeting to discuss production cuts until next week. The oil cartel has been maintaining a tight market for crude oil with production cuts. He is expected to extend those cuts after oil prices have fallen following a summer surge to nearly $100 a barrel.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.4% to 17,668.99 and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2% to 3,048.82. Greater China markets have been reeling in reaction to moves by Chinese regulators to shore up the real estate market in crisis.
Shares in troubled developer Country Garden rose 13% amid reports that it is included on a list of property companies eligible for financial support. Sino-Ocean Group Holding shares soared 18%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 7,030.70. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 2 points to 2,509.73.
The Bangkok SET lost 0.4% and the Taiwan Taiex lost 0.2%. The Mumbai Sensex opened with a gain of 0.1%.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 4,556.62. The Dow Jones rose 0.5% to 35,273.03 and the Nasdaq gained 0.5% to 14,265.86.
Operations were quiet ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. US markets will be open for half a day on Friday.
Technology and communications services stocks accounted for a large portion of the S&P 500's gains. Microsoft rose 1.3% and Google parent Alphabet added 1.1%.
Broadcom fell 0.9% after announcing that it expects to complete its $69 billion deal to acquire VMWare on Wednesday after clearing all regulatory hurdles.
A 0.9% drop in oil prices hit energy companies. Energy giant Exxon Mobil fell 0.4% and oilfield services company Halliburton fell 0.8%.
But it boosted airlines and other companies that could benefit from lower fuel costs. United Airlines rose 0.9% and American Airlines gained 1.5%. Cruise operator Carnival rose 1.9%.
Nvidia fell 2.5%, despite comfortably beating analysts' profit and revenue forecasts. Restrictions on exports to China are putting pressure on the company, although its shares have more than tripled this year amid growing demand for its chips in artificial intelligence applications.
The results reports keep coming. Department store operator Nordstrom fell 4.6% after cutting its profit forecast for the year. Clothing retailer Guess fell 12.3% after cutting its financial forecasts.
Tractor maker Deere, an agricultural industry bellwether, fell 3.1% after giving Wall Street a bleak financial forecast and industry outlook.
Treasury yields remained relatively stable. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.41% from 4.40% late Tuesday. The 2-year Treasury yield fell to 4.88% from 4.89% late Tuesday.
A consumer confidence survey conducted by the University of Michigan showed that confidence remains strong. Wall Street has been closely monitoring reports on consumer spending and confidence for more clues about the future of the economy.
Forecasts of a possible recession have been postponed until 2024 and at the same time softened. The inflation rate continues to decline, consumer spending remains strong, and the overall economy is doing well. This has raised hopes and bets that the Federal Reserve It is no longer raising interest rates and could soon consider cutting them.
However, Fed officials have said the outlook for the economy remains uncertain and they will make upcoming rate decisions based on incoming reports. The Fed will get another big update next week when the government releases its October report on a key measure of inflation tracked by the central bank.
In other trading Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 91 cents to $76.19 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 67 cents to $77.10 a barrel on Wednesday.
Brent crude, the international pricing standard, lost $1.06 to $80.90 a barrel.
The US dollar fell to 149.12 Japanese yen from 149.56 yen. The euro rose to $1.0905 from $1.0889.
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AP Business writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
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