Stock market today: Asian shares gain, except China, after Wall St rebounds

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BANGKOK (AP) – Asian shares advanced on Tuesday, except for China, after many U.S. stocks rose to reverse some of their losses from last week.

Oil prices and US futures soared higher.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.4% to 38,471.58 and Seoul’s Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,474.26.

Chinese stocks are reeling under worries about potential tax hikes by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration and worries that newly announced stimulus policies won’t have enough of an impact on the economy.

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The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.9% to 3,305.09, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank and then recovered slightly, settling down 0.1% at 19,588.10.

“Broader markets remain cautious, and futures look firmer as well-reasoned fears of a global trade war cast a shadow over moves ahead,” SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes said in a statement.

India’s Sensex jumped 1.2%, while Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.3%. In Bangkok, the SET gained 1.1%.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 5,893.62 for its first gain in three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 43,389. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 18,791.81.

Stocks regained momentum after giving back more than half of their post-election gains at the end of last week. Investors had sent the S&P 500 nearly 4% higher in the days following Trump’s presidential victory. Bank stocks, small companies and other market areas seen as the biggest winners from Trump’s favor of lower tax rates, higher tariffs and easier regulations did particularly well.

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CVS Health gained 5.4% after adding four new directors to its board. Liberty Energy also helped pull the market higher after rising 4.9%. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated its CEO, Chris Wright, as his nominee for Secretary of Energy.

Meanwhile, trading in Spirit Airlines stock has been suspended after the privately held company reached an agreement with creditors on a plan to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The airline will continue to fly while it restructures, but it will also likely wipe out all the holdings of all of its current investors.

Investors have been eyeing other potential downsides to Trump’s economic overhaul. Moderna rose 7.2% on Monday but has been down since word emerged that Trump wanted Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccination activist, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Worries about potentially higher inflation under Trump sent Treasury yields higher in the bond market. That could tie the hands of the Federal Reserve, where the central bank is trying to lower interest rates to ease the brakes on the economy and keep the job market buoyant.

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Many big-name companies will report their latest quarterly results this week, including market heavyweight Nvidia on Wednesday. The chip company, with a total market value of nearly $3.5 billion, will need to reach higher than analysts’ expected growth in the latest quarter to justify its massive stock price, which has risen 183% this year.

Other major companies to report this week include Lowe’s and Walmart on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Deere on Thursday.

Big-box retailers will report after an update on Friday saying shoppers spent more money at U.S. stores last month than expected.

In other action early Tuesday, US crude oil rose 1 cent to $69.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 4 cents to $73.34 a barrel.

The dollar fell to 154.50 Japanese yen from 154.67 yen. The euro fell to $1.0587 from $1.0599.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

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