Asian Shares Up, Track Wall Street's Modest Gains

Shares advanced in Asia on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, after Wall Street benchmarks ended last week on a high note, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The Hanoi Stock Exchange

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was the outlier, giving up 1.2% to 25,810.10, but other regional indexes were higher. Bangkok’s SET index jumped 4.3% on forecasts for a turnaround for the economy, which has been battered by the pandemic.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.7% to 21,898.20 and the Kospi in Seoul jumped 0.9% to 2,408.26. The Shanghai Composite index added 1.4% to 3,241.35. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8% to 7,303.70. Taiwan also advanced.

Stocks closed higher Friday on Wall Street as earnings reporting season got underway and CEOs began to show how well or poorly they’re navigating high inflation and a slowing economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 3,999.09 on Friday after erasing an earlier loss, closing out its best week in two months. It is holding onto a 4.2% gain for 2023 so far.

In other trading Monday, US benchmark crude oil lost 39 cents to $79.47 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other trading Monday, US benchmark crude oil lost 39 cents to $79.47 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the pricing standard for international trading, gained 6 cents to $82.31 per barrel in London.

The dollar was trading at 127.47 Japanese yen, down from 127.87 yen. The euro bought $1.0860, up from $1.0830.

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