LDN - Business

Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed after China's economy hit its 5% growth target in '24

[January 17, 2025] By ELAINE KURTENBACH

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after China reported that its economy grew at a 5% annual pace last year, hitting the government’s target but slowing from the year before.

U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices also climbed.

Strong exports and policies aimed at spurring more consumer spending and investment helped drive a boom in manufacturing, which jumped nearly 6% from a year earlier, the Chinese government reported.

Share benchmarks in China showed scant reaction, given that the 5% annual growth exactly matched the government's target for “about 5%” growth in 2024. The economy grew 5.4% year-on-year in the October-December quarter.

Economists are forecasting a further slowing of growth this year and beyond, and President-elect Donald Trump's threats to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have added to Beijing's challenges as it faces a raft of moves by Washington to limit access to advanced technology, such as computer chips used in artificial intelligence.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.2% to 19,568.38 and the Shanghai Composite index also edged 0.2% higher, to 3,241.82.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1% to 38,193.05. Shares in gaming giant Nintendo dropped 4.3% in Tokyo as investors apparently were unimpressed by the company's newest console, which gamers have been waiting for since rumors of its release first spread years ago. Nintendo said the Switch 2 will be released in April.

In South Korea, the Kospi shed 0.2% to 2,523.55. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% lower to 8,310.40.

Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.5% after computer chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, reported Thursday that its profit in the last quarter jumped 57%. The world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer — which has found itself in the middle of a trade and technology rift between the U.S. and China — said it results were propelled by the artificial intelligence boom.

TSMC U.S.-traded shares rose 3.9% on Thursday. Early Friday, its Taiwan-traded shares were up 1.4%.

The Sensex in India declined 0.5%.

In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 29 cents to $78.14 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 16 cents at $81.46 per barrel.

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A person runs in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The U.S. dollar rose to 155.59 Japanese yen from 155.16 yen late Thursday. The euro fell to $1.0280 from $1.0301.

On Thursday, U.S. stock indexes drifted lower Thursday following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other big companies.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 5,937.34. Gainers outnumbered losers, but drops for some influential stocks like Tesla outweighed advances. Tesla fell 3.4% on news it is offering discounts on its Cybertruck, the latest sign that Elon Musk’s company is struggling to attract buyers as sales of its electric vehicle models drop for the first time in a dozen years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2% to 43,153.13, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9% to 19,338.29.

The relatively modest moves for stocks came a day after they shot higher on hopes that an encouraging report on inflation may convince the Federal Reserve to deliver more cuts to interest rates this year. Treasury yields were also more placid in the bond market following mixed economic reports on Thursday.

One report showed growth for sales at U.S. retailers wasn’t as strong last month as economists expected. Another said more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, and a third said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic area unexpectedly roared back to growth.

Taken together, the trio of reports suggests the U.S. economy is nowhere near a recession but may be showing some signs of slowing that could keep pressure off inflation. Markets have been lurching down and up in recent weeks as economic reports force traders to revamp their expectations about what the Federal Reserve may do with interest rates in 2025.

UnitedHealth Group tumbled 6%. The insurer reported a stronger profit than expected, but its revenue for the latest quarter came up shy of forecasts. It was the company’s first financial report since the shooting of one of its executives outside a New York City hotel early last month.

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