Asian markets follow Wall St up but on track for annual loss

BEIJING Asian stock market s climbed on Friday after positive U.S. employment data, but they were heading for double-digit losses for this year.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices rose.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index gained Thursday after the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose only slightly last week despite repeated interest rate hikes to cool inflation by slowing economic activity.

“Considering the market news was sparse, the shift higher has the hallmarks of a dead cat bounce,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4% to 3,085.96. The Chinese benchmark is on track to end 2022 down more than 14% after the world’s second-largest economy was depressed by anti-virus controls and a crackdown on corporate debt.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 26,168.45. It is headed for an annual loss of almost 10%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.4% to 19,803.77. It is off more than 14% this year.

Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was 0.5% higher at 7,057.40. New Zealand’s economy declined, while Southeast Asian markets grew.

South Korean markets closed for a holiday. The country’s benchmark Kospi index is headed for a loss of more than 25% for the year.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.7% to 3,849.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1% to 33,220.80. The Nasdaq composite added 2.6% to 10,478.09. Each major U.S. index will experience a loss in December. Companies in the S&P 500 took in record profits in 2022 but the index will end the year down about 20%, which would be the benchmark’s biggest annual decline since 2008.

Investors are uneasy about a string of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to tame inflation that is at multi-decade highs. They fear central banks will try to cause a recession if necessary. The Fed’s key lending rates range from 4. 25% to 4.5% after seven increases this year. According to the U.S. central banks, this range will be between 5% and 5. 25% by the end of 2023. It doesn’t forecast a rate cut prior to 2024..

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 19 cents to $78. 59 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 56 cents on Thursday to $78.40. Brent crude, used as the price basis for international oil trading, advanced 10 cents to $83. 56 per barrel in London. It lost $1 the previous session to $82. 26 a barrel.

The dollar declined to 132. 57 yen from Thursday’s 132. 90 yen. The euro fell to $1. 0659 from $1.0677.