TOKYO (AP) – Asian stocks fell on Friday, as reports showed that U.S. staff layoffs continued at the highest levels after the U.S. economy.
Profit reports, a measure of how corporations are managing the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, have added to sadness. Some generation corporations have resisted the trend and are showing results. But many corporations are suffering.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark fell 1.9% to 21,920.98, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% to 2,262.00. Australia’s S-P/ASX two hundred fell 1.9% to 5939.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3% to 24,633.42, while the Shanghai Compound lost 0.3% to 3278.40.
August has a tendency to be a bad month for stocks, said Stephen Innes of AxiTrader Corp.
“Inventory markets seem extremely corrective to the extent that we can enter a retirement phase in the run-up to August, better known as summer blackout,” Innes said in a comment.
At a positive signal, China reported that its production activity increased in July and that export orders were strengthened despite weak US and European demand. The monthly survey published Friday was another sign that the world’s second-largest economy is gradually recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Central bank meetings for other countries are scheduled for next week.
“The moment when the GDP of Indonesia and the Philippines will also attract attention, underlining the effect of the pandemic,” said Bernard Aw, an IHS Markit economist in Singapore.
The Japanese government said late Thursday the nation’s economy was likely to sink 4.5% for the fiscal year ending in March 2021. It forecasts a return to growth in the following fiscal year.
Japanese corporations that are releasing effects next week come with Sony Corp., Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nintendo Co.
Some are more resilient than others.
According to Japanese media, Toyota was once again the world’s No. 1 car manufacturer, ahead of Volkswagen, now the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer. Toyota’s sales were already recovering in markets such as China, which is recovering from its first COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the company.
During the night, the United States reported that the economy at a record annual rate of 32.9% in April-June, while pandemic closures continued.
News of the deep and brutal cave came here when a resurgence of epidemics led companies in many regions to close for the time being. The government’s estimate of the decline in gross domestic product in the current quarter is not comparable in comparison since registrations began in 1947. The worst quarterly contraction in the past, with 10%, less than a third of what was reported on Thursday, occurred in 1958 under the Eisenhower administration.
The bad news is no big surprise, and on Wall Street, the S.P.500 fell 0.4% to 3246.22. Nearly 3 out of 4 shares in the index fell. Oil producers, banks and other companies that want the economy to escape the recession are among the most affected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.9% to 26,313.65.
The stocks gave the impression of a much sharper drop the day before, but the strongest-than-expected gains reported through UPS and other corporations helped the market decrease its losses. The same goes for the stabilization of Amazon’s value and other actions driven by primary technology, which launched their own effects after the end of the trading day.
The anticipation of its reports, which turned out to be even larger than expected by Wall Street, helped the Nasdaq compound clear its early loss and rise 0.4% to 10587.81.
But overall, benefit reports were well below the grades of a year ago, before the pandemic occurred. According to FactSet, major corporations in the S-P 500 are on track to report a decrease of nearly 38% during last year’s quarter.
Shortly after the end of the day’s operations, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google’s parent company reported higher profits in the last quarter than Wall Street had expected. Investors have continued to come to them in the hope that they will thrive as the pandemic accelerates the transition to online trading.
U.S. benchmark crude earned 14 cents at $40.06 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent Crude, the standard, went up 37 cents to $43.31 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 104.22 Japanese yen from 104.73 yen. The euro charges $1,1894, with $1.1846.
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AP editor Stan Choe contributed.