Asian shares advance, shrugging off Wall Street retreat

BANGKOK (AP) — Hong Kong jumped more than 5% and other Asian markets also rose Tuesday after Wall Street declined and a survey showed Chinese manufacturing improved.

Oil prices rose more than $1.10 per barrel while the euro gained but stayed below $1.

The monthly manufacturing gauge from Caixin, a Chinese business news magazine, helped to counter renewed concerns about coronavirus outbreaks. It showed activity declined in October but a slower rate than the previous month.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong surged 5.1% to 15,441.77 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2% to 2,940.75. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.3% to 27,678.92.

The Kospi in Seoul jumped 1.8% to 2,335.22 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 gained 1.6% to 6,976.90.

India's Sensex opened up 0.6% at 61.124.72. New Zealand declined while Southeast Asian markets advanced.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index closed down 0.7% at 3,871.98. That gave it an 8% gain for October, but the index still is down 18.8% from its Jan. 3 peak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4% to 32,732.95. It ended the month up 14%.

A market pullback in August and September, plus better quarterly earnings than expected at many companies, helped put investors in a buying mood.

That was helped by optimism that the Federal Reserve might be ready to ease up on the aggressive pace of interest rate hikes as it tries to squash inflation.

Stocks gained ground throughout October as investors shifted focus to the latest round of corporate earnings. More than half of the companies within the S&P 500 have reported results and shown overall earnings growth of 2.3%, according to FactSet.

Companies have so far given investors a mixed bag of results and forecasts as Wall Street tries to get a better picture of the economy.

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