BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Thursday after Wall Street’s record-breaking rally powered on.
Shares fell in Chinese markets but rose in the rest of the region. U.S. futures were nearly unchanged and oil prices fell.
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BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Thursday after Wall Street’s record-breaking rally powered on.
FILE - A man walking on Wall Street approaches the New York Stock Exchange, right, on June 26, 2024, in New York. Shares advanced in Europe on July 1, 2024, with the benchmark in Paris up 2.8% briefly after the far-right National Rally gained a strong lead in first-round legislative elections. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
The Fearless Girl statues faces the New York Stock Exchange on July 2, 2024, in New York. Global stocks are mostly lower after benchmarks ended higher on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader stands by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader watches computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Currency traders work by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rates at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks kept rising in a holiday-shortened session after weak reports on the economy kept the door open for possible cuts to interest rates.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Independence Day holiday.
Investors worldwide are keen to see the Federal Reserve cut rates that it has been keeping at two-decade highs to slow growth and tame inflation.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.6% to 40,815.95, with buying of automakers' shares and other export oriented stocks kept the benchmark near 35-year highs.
Toyota Motor Corp. was up 1.3% and computer testing equipment maker Advantest Corp. gained 2.4%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng recovered from early losses, edging up 0.1% to 17,988.25, and the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.4% to 2,969.45.
Taiwan's Taiex jumped 1.2% as chip maker and market heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. gained 2.7%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 1% to 7,815.80, while the Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.7% to 2,813.54.
Bangkok's SET jumped 1%.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to set an all-time high for a second straight day and for the 33rd time this year. It closed at 5,537.02.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to 39,308.00, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9% to 18,188.30.
Tesla again helped boost the market and rose 6.5% a day after reporting a milder drop in sales for the spring than analysts feared. It was one of the strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500, along with Nvidia. The darling of Wall Street’s rush into artificial-intelligence technology climbed 4.6% to bring the chip company’s gain for the year so far to 159%.
The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields slid following a flurry of reports that came in weaker than expected on both the job market and U.S. services companies. The data could keep the Federal Reserve on course to deliver the cuts to interest rates later this year that Wall Street desires.
One report said activity for businesses in the real estate, retail trade and other U.S. services industries contracted in June for just the third time in 49 months, weaker than economists’ forecasts. Perhaps more importantly for Wall Street, the report from the Institute Supply Management also said prices were increasing at a slower pace.
That followed reports from earlier in the morning showing a slowing job market.
The hope on Wall Street is that the economy will soften by just enough to keep a lid on upward pressure on inflation, but not so much that it throws workers out of their jobs and triggers a recession.
A much more anticipated report will arrive on Friday, when the U.S. government will give its comprehensive update about how many workers employers added to their payrolls during June.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.35% from 4.44% late Tuesday, a notable move for the bond market, and much of the slide came after the report on U.S. services businesses. It’s been generally sinking since April on hopes that inflation is slowing enough to get the Federal Reserve to lower its main interest rate from the highest level in more than two decades.
In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up 56 cents to $83.32 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, lost 51 cents to $86.83 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 161.50 Japanese yen, reflecting expectations that U.S. interest rate cuts might narrow the gap in rates with Japan, where the benchmark lending rate is near zero.
The euro was unchanged at $1.0787.
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
The New York Stock Exchange is seen on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. Wall Street is leaning toward minuscule gains before the bell ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
FILE - A man walking on Wall Street approaches the New York Stock Exchange, right, on June 26, 2024, in New York. Shares advanced in Europe on July 1, 2024, with the benchmark in Paris up 2.8% briefly after the far-right National Rally gained a strong lead in first-round legislative elections. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
The Fearless Girl statues faces the New York Stock Exchange on July 2, 2024, in New York. Global stocks are mostly lower after benchmarks ended higher on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader stands by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader watches computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Currency traders work by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rates at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after Tesla gained more than 10%, helping to drive U.S. benchmarks to more records. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory — but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation.
Labour leader Keir Starmer will officially become prime minister later in the day, leading his party back to government less than five years after it suffered its worst defeat in almost a century. In the merciless choreography of British politics, he will take charge in 10 Downing St. hours after the votes are counted — as Conservative leader Rishi Sunak is hustled out.
“A mandate like this comes with a great responsibility,” Starmer acknowledged in a speech to supporters, saying that the fight to regain people’s trust after years of disillusionment “is the battle that defines our age."
Speaking as drawn broke in London, he said Labour would offer “the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day.”
Sunak conceded defeat, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict.”
For Starmer, it's a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a weary electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.
“Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,” said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change in the hours before polls closed. “I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”
And that's what Starmer promised, saying “change begins now."
Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said British voters were about to see a marked change in political atmosphere from the tumultuous “politics as pantomime” of the last few years.
“I think we’re going to have to get used again to relatively stable government, with ministers staying in power for quite a long time, and with government being able to think beyond the very short term to medium-term objectives,” he said.
Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years — some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not — that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K.’s exit from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread anger.
Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, rocked the economy further with a package of drastic tax cuts and lasted just 49 days in office. Rising poverty, crumbling infrastructure and overstretched National Health Service have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”
While the result appears to buck recent rightward electoral shifts in Europe, including in France and Italy, many of those same populist undercurrents flow in Britain. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has roiled the race with his party’s anti-immigrant “take our country back” sentiment and undercut support for the Conservatives and even grabbed some voters from Labour.
The exit poll suggested Labour was on course to win about 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 131. With a majority of results in, the broad picture of a Labour landslide was borne out, though estimates of the final tally varied.
The result is a catastrophe for the Conservatives as voters punished them for 14 years of presiding over austerity, Brexit, a pandemic, political scandals and internecine conflict.
The historic defeat — on track to be the fewest number of seats in the party's two-century history — leaves it depleted and in disarray and will likely spark an immediate contest to replace Sunak as leader.
In a sign of the volatile public mood and anger at the system, the incoming Parliament will be more fractured and ideologically diverse than any for years. Smaller parties picked up millions of votes, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and Farage’s Reform UK. It won at least four seats, including one for Farage in the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, securing a place in Parliament on his eighth attempt.
The Liberal Democrats won more than 60 seats, on a slightly lower share of the vote than Reform because its votes were more efficiently distributed. In Britain's first-past-the-post system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.
The Green Party have won four seats, up from just one before the election.
One of the biggest losers was the Scottish National Party, which held most of Scotland's 57 seats before the election but looked set to lose all but handful, mostly to Labour.
Labour did not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower.”
But the party's cautious, safety-first campaign delivered the desired result. The party won the support of large chunks of the business community and endorsements from traditionally conservative newspapers, including the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid, which praised Starmer for “dragging his party back to the center ground of British politics.”
The Conservative campaign, meanwhile, was plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Several Conservatives close to Sunak are being investigated over suspicions they used inside information to place bets on the date of the election before it was announced.
In Henley-on-Thames, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of London, voters like Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired, sensed the nation was looking for something different. The community, which has long voted Conservative, flipped to the Liberal Democrats this time.
“The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ Mulcahy said ahead of the results. “But whoever gets in, they’ve got a heck of a job ahead of them. It’s not going to be easy.”
Follow AP's coverage of elections around the world: https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/
Bill Blockhead, left, an independent candidate, views results on a phone at the Sports Training Village, University of Bath, in Somerset, during the count for the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency in the 2024 General Election, Friday July 5, 2024. (Jonathan BradyPA via AP)
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney looks down at his phone at Ice Hall in the Dewars Centre, Perth, during the count in the 2024 General Election, Friday July 5, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks on stage after he was elected for the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party appears to be headed for a huge majority in the 2024 UK election, an exit poll suggested. The poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the country's next prime minister.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Independent candidate Count Binface speaks to a journalist as he arrives for the vote count in Britain's general election at the Richmond and Northallerton count center in Northallerton, England, Friday July 5, 2024. (Temilade Adelaja, Pool via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty leave a polling station after voting near Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain goes to the polls Thursday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell )
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg looks at his phone at the Sports Training Village, University of Bath, in Somerset, during the count for the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency in the 2024 General Election, Friday July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll and partial returns indicated, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer with his wife Victoria make their way through supporters as they arrive at the count for the Holborn and St Pancras Parliamentary constituency where the Starmer is standing for election, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party appears to be headed for a huge majority in the 2024 UK election, an exit poll suggested. The poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the country's next prime minister. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, second right, arrives at Clacton Leisure Centre in Clacton, England, during the count for the 2024 General Election, Friday July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. (Joe Giddens/PA Wire/PA via AP)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage gives a victory speech after winning his seat at Clacton Leisure Centre in Clacton, England, Friday July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. (Joe Giddens/PA Wire/PA via AP)
Liberal Democrat Ed Davey celebrates at a general election results watch party at the London Art Bar, central London, Friday July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll and partial returns indicated, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. (James Manning/PA via AP)
Independent candidate Niko Omilana holds an "L" behind Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who speaks after winning his seat in the general election at the Richmond and Northallerton count center in Northallerton, England, Friday July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll and partial returns indicated, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. (Temilade Adelaja, Pool via AP)
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer smiles as he speaks to his supporters at the Tate Modern in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour Party Starmer says voters "have spoken and they are ready for change" as an exit poll points to landslide win, and is expected to be the next British Prime Minister. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Ballot boxes are emptied at Ice Hall in the Dewars Centre, Perth, Scotland, during the count for the Perth and North Perthshire constituency in the 2024 General Election, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party was headed for a huge majority in Britain’s election on Thursday, an exit poll suggested. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Meadowbank Sports Arena, Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, during the count for the 2024 General Election, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party was headed for a huge majority in Britain’s election on Thursday, an exit poll suggested. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)
Ballot boxes are emptied at Silkworth Community Pool Tennis & Wellness Centre in Sunderland, England, during the count for the 2024 General Election, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party was headed for a huge majority in Britain’s election on Thursday, an exit poll suggested. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
A man leaves a temporary polling station at Wimbledon Village, London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Britain's LibDem party leader Ed Davey and his wife Emily Daveypose for the media after they cast their vote at polling station in Kingston, London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain goes to the polls Thursday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
A woman holds a tray after offering hot drinks to members of the media waiting for Labour Party leader Keir Starmer to vote outside a polling station in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised his own party on May 22 when he called the election. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
People walk from Falwell windmill and mill which is a temporary polling station, after casting their vote in Sunderland, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024.Britain goes to the polls Thursday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer walks out of a polling booth after casting her vote in the 2024 General Election at Redland Park United Reformed Church in Bristol, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
A woman displays a Reform UK Party badge on her hat in Clacton On Sea, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised his own party on May 22 when he called the election. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)
Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer shakes hands with other candidates after he was elected for the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party appears to be headed for a huge majority in the 2024 UK election, an exit poll suggested. The poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the country's next prime minister. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party speaks from inside a jeep during an electoral rally at Clacton Pier in Clacton-on-Sea, England, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. United Kingdom voters will cast ballots in a national election Thursday, passing judgment on Sunak's 20 months in office, and on the four Conservative prime ministers before him. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
People react to Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, speaking during an electoral rally at Clacton Pier in Clacton-on-Sea, England, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. United Kingdom voters will cast ballots in a national election Thursday, passing judgment on Sunak's 20 months in office, and on the four Conservative prime ministers before him. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A man cycles with his daughter after casting his vote at Whitley Bay cemetery where there is polling station inside, in Whitley Bay, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain goes to the polls Thursday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
A woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling station in London, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Voters in the U.K. are casting their ballots in a national election to choose the 650 lawmakers who will sit in Parliament for the next five years. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised his own party on May 22 when he called the election. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A man and his dog walk towards Falwell windmill and mill which is a temporary polling station in Sunderland, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024.Britain goes to the polls Thursday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrives at Northallerton Leisure Centre in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, for the count for the Richmond and Northallerton constituency in the 2024 General Election, Friday July 5, 2024. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty walk from a polling station after voting near Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Britain goes to the polls Thursday after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell )
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer kisses his wife Victoria after he spoke to his supporters at the Tate Modern in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour Party Starmer says voters "have spoken and they are ready for change" as an exit poll points to landslide win, and is expected to be the next British Prime Minister. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer gives a thumbs up to his supporters after he was elected for the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party appears to be headed for a huge majority in the 2024 UK election, an exit poll suggested. The poll released moments after voting closed indicated that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the country's next prime minister.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
