Asian shares advance after weak US retail data weigh on Wall Street

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were moderately higher in Asia on Wednesday after U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish following a discouraging report on how much money U.S. retailers made during the holidays.

U.S. futures edged higher and prices of gold, silver and oil also advanced.

Markets were closed in Japan for a holiday.

Chinese markets crept higher, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong up 0.3% at 27,260.35. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.1% to 4,133.46.

In South Korea, the Kospi extended its gains, rising 1% to 5,346.34.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7% to 9,014.80, while Taiwan's Taiex jumped 1.6%.

On Tuesday, stocks drifted on Wall Street following a mixed set of profit reports from big U.S. companies. Hopes rose that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year to boost the economy following a discouraging report on U.S. shoppers' appetite for spending.

“Fresh data points to softening U.S. consumer momentum since last December as wage growth cools and household credit stress builds,” Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. It noted that demand weakened in eight of 13 categories, including clothing and furniture.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,941.81 after briefly rising above its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, to its own record, closing at 50,188.14.

The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% to 23,102.47.

The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields fell after a report showed U.S. retailers made less money at the end of last year than economists expected.

That could signal slowing spending by U.S. households, the main engine of the economy.

More reports are coming this week. On Wednesday, the U.S. government will give the latest monthly update on the unemployment rate, while a report Friday will show how bad inflation is for U.S. consumers.

Altogether, the data should help the Federal Reserve decide what to do with interest rates. The Fed has put its cuts to interest rates on hold, and too-hot inflation could keep it on pause for a long time. But a weakening of the job market, on the other hand, could push it to resume cuts more quickly.

“Expectations are weak. The U.S. economy is expected to have added around 66,000 nonfarm jobs in January, with wage growth slowing to 3.6% year-on-year. The unemployment rate is seen steady near 4.4%,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a report.

“If we dig deeper, however, unemployment among workers aged 16–24 stood above 10% in December. The struggle is real,” she said.

Coca-Cola fell 1.5% after its revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. It also gave a forecast for an important underlying measure of growth this year that was less than some analysts expected.

S&P Global dropped 9.7% after giving a forecast for profit in the upcoming year that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company famous for its stock indexes has been struggling recently with worries that competitors powered by artificial-intelligence technology may steal customers for its data services. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 15% for the year so far.

Outside of earnings reports, Warner Bros. Discovery climbed 2.2% after Paramount said it upped its offer to buy the entertainment company of $30 per share by 25 cents per share for each quarter that its buyout has not closed past the end of this year. Paramount also said it would pay $2.8 billion to help Warner Bros. Discovery get out of its buyout deal with Netflix.

Paramount Skydance’s stock added 1.5%, while Netflix rose 0.9%.

In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 45 cents to $64.41 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 43 cents at $69.23 per barrel.

The dollar slipped to 153.13 Japanese yen from 154.38 yen, while the euro rose to $1.1917 from $1.1895.

The price of gold rose 1% while that for silver was up 2.1%.

Bitcoin lost 3.2% to just below $67,000.