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FILE- In this Aug. 21, 2018, file photo specialist Peter Mazza, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. stock market opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) |
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP
TOKYO
Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, despite jitters over the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.4 percent in early trading to 23,741.29. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent to 6,195.70. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.3 percent to 2,303.34. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.0 percent to 27,355.73, while the Shanghai Composite also jumped 1.0 percent, to 2,726.27.
TRADE TENSIONS: The administration of President Donald Trump has decided to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods. China responded by saying it will go ahead with plans to increase tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods.
THE QUOTE: “As it is, the U.S. and China still sit on the brink of further ratcheting of trade tension, particularly with the latest Chinese tariffs targeting agricultural products and President Trump having vowed to bring out the next $267 billion of Chinese imports for tariffs implementation if so,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.
WALL STREET: Wall Street’s jitters over the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China proved to be short-lived. Gains in technology stocks and consumer-focused companies powered Tuesday’s broad rally, which reversed nearly all of the indexes’ losses from a day earlier. The S&P 500 index rose 15.51 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,904.31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 184.84 points, or 0.7 percent, to 26,246.96. The Nasdaq composite gained 60.32 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,956.11. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies added 7.42 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,710.97.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude inched down 1 cent to $69.84 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 1.4 percent to settle at $69.85 a barrel in New York Tuesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 7 cents to $78.96 a barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar was flat at 112.37 yen. The euro rose to $1.1675 from $1.1665.
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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
