Asia Stocks Mixed As Wall Street Rises On Corporate Profit Reports

Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, after Wall Street rose on strong corporate profit reports, Joe McDonald reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The profit reports helped at least temporarily offset investor worries that repeated interest rate hikes by US, European and Asian central banks to control inflation that is at multi-decade highs might tip the global economy into recession.

Tokyo advanced while Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. The yen stayed near a two-decade low under 149 to the dollar. Oil prices gained. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 1.1% on Tuesday after investment bank Goldman Sachs, military contractor Lockheed Martin and others reported strong results.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.4% to 27,257.38, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 3,060.20. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 2% to 16,576.17.

The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.6% to 2,237.44 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 advanced 0.4% to 6,803.80. India’s Sensex opened up 0.7% at 59,357.90. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets advanced.

Market sentiment is “looking positive so far amid forecast-beating earnings,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report.

The profit reports helped at least temporarily offset investor worries that repeated interest rate hikes by US, European and Asian central banks to control inflation that is at multi-decade highs might tip the global economy into recession. That concern has helped to drag US stocks into a bear market, or a decline of more than 20% by the S&P 500 from its January high.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic