Asian shares gain after earnings-fueled rally on Wall Street

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced on Wednesday after solid earnings pushed retailers higher on Wall Street ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.

New Zealand's share benchmark fell 0.9% after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a point to 4.25%, striving to rein in inflation that is now at 7.2%.

It’s the first time the bank has raised rates by more than a half-point since introducing the Official Cash Rate in 1999. The new rate is the highest in New Zealand since early 2009.

Markets were closed in Japan for a holiday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 0.9% to 17,600.93 and the Kospi in Seoul rose 0.5% to 2,417.97. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.7% to 7,231.80.

The Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.2% to 3,082.95. Shares rose in Southeast Asia.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.4% to 4,003.58 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.2% to 34,098.10. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 1.4% to 11,174.41.

Smaller company stocks also got a boost. The Russell 2000 rose 1.2%, to 1,860.44.

All the company sectors in the benchmark S&P 500 index rose, with technology stocks driving much of the rally. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 4.7%.

Best Buy soared 12.8% after the Minneapolis-based consumer electronics chain did better than analysts expected and said a decline in sales for the year will not be as bad as it had projected earlier.

Energy stocks notched the biggest gain as the price of U.S. crude oil rose 1.5%. Chevron rose 2.6%.

Long-term Treasury yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 3.76% from 3.84% late Monday.

The Federal Reserve will release minutes Wednesday from its latest policy meeting, potentially giving investors more insight into its...