Asian shares mixed after Wall Street’s lull stretches to a second day

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

HONG KONG — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street’s lull stretched into a second day, with Chinese benchmarks rising after China reported better-than-expected trade figures for April.

U.S. futures were slightly lower and oil prices rose.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.3 percent at 38,073.98.

Automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s shares dropped 4.9 percent after the company forecasted a 7 percent lower net profit in the fiscal year that will end in March 2025.

Toyota Motor slipped 0.4 percent after it reported Wednesday that it doubled its net profit in the fiscal year that ended in March.

The U.S. dollar rose to 155.72 Japanese yen from 155.52 yen, as reports in Tokyo speculated on the likelihood of further intervention by the Finance Ministry to curb the yen’s slide.

“We’re always prepared to do so if necessary. We might do it today. We might do it tomorrow,” Masato Kanda, the Finance Vice Minister for International Affairs.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.1 percent to 18,508.53 and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6 percent to 3,148.34.

China reported that its exports rose 1.5 percent in April from a year earlier, while imports jumped 8.4 percent. The renewed growth suggests a stronger recovery in demand than earlier data had suggested.

READ: China’s exports, imports returned to growth in April as demand improved

In South Korea, the Kospi lost 1.1 percent to 2,714.50. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.1 percent to 7,721.60.

Wall Street lull

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 finished virtually unchanged after flipping between modest gains and losses through the day. It edged down by 0.03 to 5,187.67, coming off a very slight gain on Tuesday, which followed a big three-day winning streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent to 39,056.39, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 percent to 16,302.76.

Uber Technologies slumped 5.7 percent after reporting worse results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave a forecasted range for bookings in the current quarter whose midpoint fell below analysts’ estimates.

READ: Wall Street’s lull stretches to a second day as indexes finish mixed

Shopify tumbled 18.6 percent despite reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which helps businesses sell things online, said its revenue growth would likely slow this quarter and that it would likely make less profit off each $1 in revenue.

Match Group sank 5.4 percent despite topping profit expectations. The company behind Tinder, Hinge, and other dating apps gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that fell short of what analysts were expecting.

Intel fell 2.2 percent after saying the U.S. Commerce Department revoked licenses for exports to a Chinese customer. That could cause its revenue for the current quarter to fall below the midpoint of the forecasted range it had earlier given.

They helped to offset Lyft, which revved 7.1 percent higher after it topped expectations for profit and revenue. The company said growth was particularly strong for early-morning commutes and weekend-evening trips.

Corporate earnings

Arista Networks climbed 6.5 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after topping expectations for both profit and revenue. The company sells network components to large-scale operations such as data centers or cloud computing networks.

READ: As earnings season rolls into its heart, hopes rise for broader gains

Most companies have been reporting stronger profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. That and newly revived hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve have helped the U.S. stock market to recover from its rough April.

Treasury yields have largely been easing since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank remains closer to cutting its main interest rate than hiking it, despite a string of stubbornly high readings on inflation this year.

A cooler-than-expected jobs report on Friday, meanwhile, suggested the U.S. economy could pull off the balancing act of staying solid enough to avoid a bad recession without being so strong that it keeps inflation too high.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 39 cents to $79.38 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was up 27 cents to $83.85 per barrel.

The euro dropped to $1.0741 from $1.0747.