Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline, shrugging off Wall Street's rally
Business
Chinese tech stocks have been declining lately
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Tuesday, despite a rally on Wall Street in stocks seen as benefiting the most from Donald Trump’s reelection as U.S. president.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 reversed early gains to decline 0.6% in afternoon trading to 39,289.14, weighed down by uncertainty about how Trump’s policies, including tariffs, may affect local industries.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1% to 8,255.60. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.6% to 2,490.19.
Chinese tech stocks have been declining lately, while investors also have their eyes on upcoming earnings reports out of China.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.9% to 19,839.88, the first time the index fell below 20,000 points since China announced a stimulus package in September. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.2% to 3,429.42.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 edged up by 0.1%, coming off its best week of the year following Trump’s victory and a cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve to bolster the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 304 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 0.1%.
Tesla was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 after rising 9.1%. Its leader, Elon Musk, has become a close ally of Trump’s, and its stock jumped nearly 15% the day after the election and has kept rising.
Several pieces of what’s known as the “Trump trade” also helped drive the market, as investors try to identify which companies will be winners under a second Trump term. JPMorgan Chase rose 1%, and financial stocks again helped lead the market on expectations for stronger economic growth, less regulation from Washington and an increase in mergers and acquisitions.
A White House more friendly to big tie-ups has helped Wall Street speculate about a merger between insurers Cigna Group and Humana, for example. It’s been so feverish that Cigna said Monday it isn’t pursuing a deal with Humana. Cigna’s stock rose 7.3%, and Humana’s sank 2%.
