Asian shares are mostly higher after Wall Street’s rally loses steam

MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Asian shares were mixed on Thursday, with major markets mostly higher despite overnight losses on Wall Street.

U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices fell.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 recovered from earlier losses, gaining 0.3% to 45,768.68. Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s July meeting released Thursday indicated policy officials were inclined to raise interest rates if economic activity and prices improve.

In Chinese markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.1% to 26,542.37, while the Shanghai Composite index edged up nearly 0.2% to 3,860.22, lifted by gains in technology shares.

South Korea’s Kospi index slid less than 0.1% to 3,471.66. Concerns about competitiveness lingered after the U.S. on Wednesday cut auto tariffs on EU imports to 15% while Korean vehicles remain at 25%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose more than 0.1% to 8,775.00. India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.5% while Taiwan’s Taiex seesawed between gains and losses and closed 0.4% lower.

On Wednesday, U.S. stock indexes drifted lower on as worries revived over the high level of share prices.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 6,637.97 for a second straight, modest loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 171 points, or 0.4%, to 46,121.28, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3% to 22,497.86. All three were still near all-time highs set on Monday.

The U.S. stock market has slowed after a blistering run since hitting a low in April.

Gains have been fueled by hopes that President Donald Trump’s tariffs won’t derail global trade and that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates several times to boost the U.S. economy.

The rally has been so big that it has raised concerns about stock prices shooting too high and becoming too expensive, particularly if the Fed does not deliver as many cuts to rates as traders expect.

Demonstrating the weight of high expectations, Micron Technology’s stock fell 2.8% even though it reported a better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The computer memory company also gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that blew past analysts’ expectations.

Typically, such a performance would send a stock higher. But Micron’s stock came into the day with an atypical, stunning gain of 97.7% for the year so far.

Freeport-McMoRan sank 17% for one of the market’s larger losses after the miner said it expects sales of copper to be 4% lower in the third quarter than it had earlier forecast. It also said sales of gold will likely be roughly 6% lower than earlier expected.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Lithium Americas. It soared 95.8% following reports that the U.S. government is considering taking an ownership stake in the Canadian company, which is developing a lithium project in Nevada with General Motors.

Homebuilders also rose after a report said U.S. sales of new homes were stronger in August than economists had forecast and unexpectedly accelerated.

In other dealings early Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude oil shed 26 cents to $64.73 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 24 cents to $68.22 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 148.73 Japanese yen from 148.78 yen. The euro rose to $1.1748 from $1.1744.

___

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.