TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly higher ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration as U.S. president Wednesday, though worries about surging coronavirus cases sapped the Japanese market’s early gains.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% to finish at 28,523.26. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 6,770.40, while South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.6% to 3,112.03. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.7% to 29,835.04, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,570.40.
Hopes are growing that Biden’s planned stimulus for the American economy as well as measures to curb the pandemic will boost regional markets.
While many Asian nations have fared better in the pandemic than European countries and the U.S., worries still run high. Main urban areas in Japan, including Tokyo, are under a state of emergency, with evening dining discouraged. Critics say that’s not enough, as deaths related to COVID-19 have been rising.
“Chinese New Year is less than a month away. With COVID infection numbers already on the rise again in parts of Asia, there are concerns about what the holiday season may mean for efforts to contain the virus’s spread,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 30.66 points, or 0.8%, to 3,798.91, pulling to within 1% of its record high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 116.26 points, or 0.4%, to 30,930.52. The Nasdaq composite gained 198.68 points, or 1.5%, to 13,197.18.
About 60% of the companies in the S&P benchmark index rose. Technology, communication services and health care stocks accounted for much of the rally, though energy sector companies notched the biggest gain.
Traders continued to bid up shares in smaller companies, a sign of confidence in the prospects for future economic growth. The Russell 2000 index picked up 27.94 points, or 1.3%, to 2,151.14.
U.S. markets were closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
The gains this week marked a reversal from last week, when stocks ran out of steam after a strong start to the year. Markets have been rising on enthusiasm about a coming economic recovery as more people are inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines and Washington gets set to try for another round of economic stimulus.
Janet Yellen, Biden’s nominee to be Treasury secretary, told the Senate Finance Committee during her confirmation hearing that the incoming administration would focus on winning quick passage of its $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan.
“More must be done,” Yellen said. “Without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now — and long-term scarring of the economy later.”
The plan would include $1,400 cash payments for most Americans. Democrats are also pushing for faster rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, a higher minimum wage for workers and enhanced benefits for laid-off workers. The hope is that such stimulus can carry the economy until later this year, when more widespread vaccinations get life returning to some semblance of normal.
“If most of this is implemented, it does suggest significant pickup in economic growth as we head through to the fourth quarter of this year,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 31 cents to $53.29 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 35 cents to $56.25.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 103.74 Japanese yen from 103.99 yen. The dollar cost $1.2146, up from $1.2115.
___
AP Business Writers Stan Choe, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Canada’s inflation rate fell to two per cent last month, finally hitting the Bank of Canada’s target after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth.
The annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index report on Tuesday attributed the slowdown in part to lower gasoline prices.
Clothing and footwear prices also decreased on a month-over-month basis, marking the first decline in the month of August since 1971 as retailers offered larger discounts to entice shoppers amid slowing demand.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures of inflation, which strip out volatility in prices, also edged down in August.
The marked slowdown in price growth last month was steeper than the 2.1 per cent annual increase forecasters were expecting ahead of Tuesday’s release and will likely spark speculation of a larger interest rate cut next month from the Bank of Canada.
“Inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate,” wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.
Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO, said Tuesday’s figures “tilt the scales” slightly in favour of more aggressive cuts, though he noted the Bank of Canada will have one more inflation reading before its October rate announcement.
“If we get another big downside surprise, calls for a 50 basis-point cut will only grow louder,” wrote Reitzes in a client note.
The central bank began rapidly hiking interest rates in March 2022 in response to runaway inflation, which peaked at a whopping 8.1 per cent that summer.
The central bank increased its key lending rate to five per cent and held it at that level until June 2024, when it delivered its first rate cut in four years.
A combination of recovered global supply chains and high interest rates have helped cool price growth in Canada and around the world.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem recently signalled that the central bank is ready to increase the size of its interest rate cuts, if inflation or the economy slow by more than expected.
Its key lending rate currently stands at 4.25 per cent.
CIBC is forecasting the central bank will cut its key rate by two percentage points between now and the middle of next year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected on Wednesday to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
