Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher after Wall St powers to more records

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BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares advanced on Tuesday after Wall Street rolled to more records, though markets in China were mostly lower.

U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices shed more than $2 a barrel.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.3% to 40,125.60, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.2% to 2,627.92.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8% to 8,321.40.

Chinese shares extended losses after the government reported late Monday that growth in exports fell sharply in September, adding to signs of weakness in the economy.

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The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.5% to 3,267.13 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up 1.3% to 20,810.11.

“Market participants continue to seek for clarity around fiscal stimulus support from Chinese authorities, but the lack of commitment remains a source of reservation for risk-taking in Chinese equities,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.

Also early Tuesday, the dollar fell to 149.70 Japanese yen from 149.83 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0895 from $1.0911.

U.S. benchmark crude dropped $2.25 to $71.58 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, skidded $2.33 to $75.13 per barrel.

On Monday, Wall Street rolled to more all-time highs.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to build on its record set on Friday, closing at 5,859.85. It’s coming off its fifth straight winning week and is on track for its longest weekly winning streak of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to 43,065.22, adding 201 points to its own record. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.9% to 18,502.69.

The gains followed relatively quiet trading in Europe, while the U.S. bond market remained closed for the day because of a holiday.

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Besides oil, prices also fell for copper and other commodities that a healthy Chinese economy would devour. That helped drive down prices for miners, such as Freeport-McMoRan, which fell 2.3% for one of the larger losses in the S&P 500.

Boeing lost 1.3% in its first trading since the aerospace giant warned that it expects to report that it burned through $1.3 billion in cash during the latest quarter and lost $9.97 per share. Boeing also said it was laying off 10% of its workforce as it tries to deal with a labor strike that is crippling production of the company’s best-selling airline planes.

This week will have few top-tier economic reports outside of an update Thursday on sales at U.S. retailers. That leaves the emphasis on corporate earnings reports, which will pick up the pace this week after big banks began the reporting season last week.

Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth Group will all report their latest results on Tuesday. Later in the week will come United Airlines, Netflix, American Express and Procter & Gamble.

Analysts are looking for S&P 500 companies to deliver overall growth of 4.1% in earnings per share for the latest quarter from a year earlier, according to FactSet. If they’re correct, it would be a fifth straight quarter of growth.

Stocks have broadly rallied to records on relief that interest rates are finally heading back down, now that the Federal Reserve has widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.

Recent reports showing the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected have also raised optimism that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing where it gets inflation down to 2% without causing a recession that many had thought would be necessary.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed.

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