Asian shares are mixed after Wall Street pulls near its all-time high

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after U.S. stocks rose to near their records.

The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were slightly higher.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 2.3% to 51,028.42, nearing its all-time high, on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate next week, even while traders speculate over whether the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates this month.

Technology and telecoms giant SoftBank Group Corp.'s shares jumped 9.2% after the company's founder reaffirmed the company's strategic shift to focus on OpenAI and other investments in artificial intelligence. SoftBank's shares are still down nearly 28% from a month ago, when it announced it had sold its stake in chip maker Nvidia for $5.8 billion to be able to invest more in AI.

The Japanese government's 10-year bond yield rose above 1.9%, it's highest since 2007.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index reversed early trading losses, adding 0.5% to 25,876.41, led by gains for tech and consumer stocks. The Shanghai Composite index edged down 0.1% to 3,875.79.

South Korea's Kospi fell 0.2% to 4,028.51, with weakness in tech and automotive stocks weighing on the benchmark.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index recovered from a slump earlier in the day, adding 0.3% to 8,618.40.

Taiwan's Taiex index was nearly unchanged while India's BSE Sensex rose 0.2%

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks rose to near their record levels as mixed data on the economy kept alive hopes for a cut to interest rates.

The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 6,849.72 and pulled within 0.6% of its all-time high set in late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9% to 47,882.90, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.2% to 23,454.09.

The biggest jump in the S&P 500 came from Microchip Technology, which leaped 12.2% after saying it expects sales and profit for the final months of the year to come in at the high end of the forecasted ranges it earlier gave. CEO Steve Sanghi said business is doing better than expected, and it’s reducing inventory levels.

Marvell Technology was another winner, gaining 7.9% after the supplier of semiconductor products delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Stocks broadly got a lift from easing Treasury yields in the bond market. Yields fell after a report suggested U.S. employers outside of the government may have cut more jobs in November than they added.

While the surprisingly weak report from ADP may be discouraging for people looking for jobs, it also bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate next week. If the Fed does, that would be the third cut of the year in hopes of helping the slowing job market.

Investors love lower interest rates because they boost prices for investments and can recharge the economy.

A separate report Wednesday on activity for the U.S. services sector was more encouraging. It said growth was stronger last month than expected for businesses in the retail, finance, insurance and other industries.

The Institute for Supply Management’s survey also said that prices were increasing at their slowest rate since April. That’s important because the main argument against cutting interest rates is that it could worsen inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.06% from 4.09% late Tuesday.

Lower interest rates can boost prices for all kinds of investments, and bitcoin climbed above $93,000 following its scary downward run in recent weeks. It briefly plunged below $81,000 last month.

In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 45 cents to $59.40 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 40 cents to $63.07 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 155.33 Japanese yen from 155.25 yen. The euro slid to $1.1658 from $1.1672.