From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Asian shares mostly gained on Thursday after a rally in U.S. tech stocks lifted the Nasdaq to an all-time high and helped Wall Street claw back most of its losses from earlier in the week.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1% to 3,164.26 after the Bank of Korea’s kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and as semiconductor shares rose following Nvidia’s overnight rally on Wall Street.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 % to 39,583.78, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.1% to 23,926.09.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4% to 3,505.58 while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6% to 8,589.70.
The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen and euro and oil prices dropped.
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% for its first gain this week. The benchmark index remains near the record it set last week after a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, closed 0.9% higher. The gain was good enough to nudge the index past the record high it set last Thursday.
Nvidia rose 1.8% and became the first public company to exceed $4 trillion in value after its share price briefly topped $164 each in the early going. Shares in the AI boom poster child were going for around $14 per share at the start of 2023.
The tech rally came as Wall Street continued to weigh the latest developments in President Donald Trump’s renewed push this week to use threats of higher tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes of securing new trade agreements with countries around the globe, with the window for negotiations extended to Aug. 1.
In other dealings on Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 6 cents to $68.32 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 8 cents to $70.14 per barrel.
The dollar was trading at 146.21 Japanese yen, down from 146.26 yen. The euro rose to $1.1736 from $1.1723.
___
AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed