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Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to 66,364.20. Hong Kong’s Hang
Seng slipped 1.1% to 24,495.35. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell
0.4% to 8,665.00.
India’s Sensex was up less than 0.1%.
Markets in mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea were closed
because of a holiday.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 was almost unchanged on
Thursday, edging down less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average dropped 0.3%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq
composite climbed less than 0.1%.
A global sell-off in the bond market has again added pressure to
the stock market, as the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury
reached its highest since 2007. The U.S. 10-year Treasury eased
slightly to around 5.17% early Friday, after rising above 5.20%
on Thursday from around 5.11% Wednesday.
Government bond yields have been elevated as bond investors are
demanding higher compensation under increasing risks and
uncertainties, including growing inflationary pressure from the
Iran war-driven energy shock and rising U.S. government debt.
ING Bank analysts wrote in a commentary this week that factors
including elevated energy prices and inflation pressures are
likely to continue to pressure U.S. 10-year Treasury yields
higher.
Oil prices fell early Friday as investors look for signs of the
reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for global
oil transport. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped
1% to $99.24 per barrel, remaining below the $100 mark although
it’s still well above the roughly $72 a barrel level in late
February before the start of the war.
While many investors are also monitoring the meeting in
Washington between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese
President Xi Jinping, analysts said limited concrete progress
has been made, although the two sides touched on topics
including trade, artificial intelligence and the Middle East.
The U.S. dollar fell to 158.06 Japanese yen from 158.86 yen. The
euro was trading at $1.1387, up from $1.1380.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
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