Asian shares mixed on hopes for avoiding recession

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday amid hopes Western economies can avoid a recession despite higher interest rates to cool inflation.

Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Tokyo declined. Markets in China, India and Australia were closed for holidays.

Wall Street ended Wednesday little changed after recovering from a slump early in the day.

Investors are optimistic the United States and European economies can avoid a recession despite warnings by Federal Reserve and other central bank officials that rate hikes to cool economic growth and inflation will stay in place for an extended period.

“There’s increasing confidence the economy may not require a recession to tame the inflation beast,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 1.9% to 22,464.77 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.1% to 27,362.75.

The Kospi in Seoul gained 1.5% to 2,465.64. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta advanced while Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur declined.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost less than 0.1% to 4,016.22 after rebounding from a morning loss of 1.7%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from a similar drop to end up less than 0.1%, to 33,743.48. The Nasdaq composite fell 20.91 points, or 0.2%, to 11,313.36.

Analysts are forecasting S&P 500 companies over the next couple weeks will report their first drop in quarterly earnings per share since 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Microsoft helped to lead the way lower after forecasting lower earnings than expected. It fell 4.6% early in the day but recovered to end down 0.6%.

Texas Instruments lost 1.1% after the company said it expects weaker demand across all its market outside of automotive. It was down as much as 3.1% at one point.

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