Wall Street opens mostly higher, looking to extend 102.3 KRMG winning streak

NEW YORK – (AP) Stocks open mostly higher as Wall Street looks to extend the market’s longest winning streak in a year and a half. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% early Friday. The reference index is trading at its highest level since April 2022 last year. The Dow gained 71 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.1%. Adobe was one of the biggest winners early on. The software maker rose 5% after raising its outlook and delivering results that easily beat forecasts. Government bond yields rose. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.78%

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BANGKOK (AP) Stocks rose in Europe and Asia on Friday after a broad rally on Wall Street.

US futures were little changed and oil prices fluctuated lower after rising more than 3% on Thursday.

The German DAX rose 0.2% to 16,328.40 and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.6% to 7,337.98. The UK FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 7,642.77.

The S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index closed at a 33-year high after the Bank of Japan concluded a policy meeting by leaving its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged, as expected. It is a standout among central banks, most of which have tried to contain inflation by raising interest rates.

Japan’s key interest rate has remained at minus 0.1% for a decade and policymakers have indicated they are not convinced that current inflation, which has eventually surpassed the BOJ’s target of around 2%, will continue.

With extremely high uncertainties surrounding economies and financial markets at home and abroad, the Bank will patiently continue monetary easing while responding nimbly to developments in economic activity and prices, as well as financial conditions, the BOJ said in a statement.

Stock prices in Japan are trading near their highest level in more than 30 years, while the Japanese yen has weakened against the dollar and other major currencies due to interest rate differentials in Japan and elsewhere.

The Nikkei gained 0.7% to 33,706.08, while the dollar rose from 140.29 yen to 141.00 yen on Thursday.

Investors were also encouraged by measures taken in Beijing to support the faltering recovery from the disruptions of the pandemic with increased government spending and mild credit easing.

It seems that Chinese policymakers have had enough and are not willing to sit still and watch consumer confidence crumble, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a comment. The leadership is planning major steps to revive the country’s slumping economy, including the possibility of billions of dollars in new infrastructure spending and looser rules to encourage real estate investors to buy more homes.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.1% to 20,040.37. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.6% to 3,273.33.

In Seoul, the Kospi rose 0.7% to 2,625.79. SET in Bangkok lost 0.3% and Sensex in India rose 0.8%.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.1% to 7,251.20.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 4,425.84, its highest level since April 2022. The Dow gained 1.3% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.2%.

This was stated in a report sales at US retailers unexpectedly strengthened last month, suggesting that consumer spending is holding up despite higher interest rates on credit cards and other loans. Economists had predicted a decline.

A separate report said something more employees applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. That’s still relatively low, but could signal that the labor market is finally starting to loosen up after the Fed’s barrage of rate hikes since early last year.

The market still sucks the Federal Reserve’s warning from a day earlier that it could raise interest rates twice more this year in its fight against inflation. It has already raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level since 2007, which has helped slow inflation somewhat, but also caused severe pain in some parts of the economy.

The US stock market is up nearly 24% since bottoming out in October last year as the economy has so far avoided recession and inflation has fallen from last summer’s high.

Traders expect the Fed to raise rates again at its next meeting on July 25-26, but are largely convinced that this will be the last hike of the year, according to data from CME Group.

On another trading Friday, US benchmark crude was up 34 cents to $70.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose $2.35 to $70.62 a barrel on Thursday.

Brent oil, the international standard, fell 28 cents to $75.39 a barrel.

The euro fell from $1.0946 to $1.0945.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.