TOKYO – Asian stocks mostly fell on Thursday as investors grappled with uncertainty United States presidential election On November 5th.

Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 39,069.20 in early trading. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.3 percent to 8,153.20 points. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased by 0.3 percent to 20,433.83 points, and the Shanghai Composite index decreased by 0.3 percent to 3,258.04 points.

Following the South Korean government’s report, the South Korean Kospi index decreased by 1.2% to 2,562.07 points. North Korea’s test launch What is suspected to be a new long-range missile designed to hit the continental United States

Details of long-range missile capabilities tested by North Korea were not yet known, but launch was likely He aimed to attract America’s attention Ahead of the US elections on Tuesday.

Although analysts expected the central bank to stay on track, market observers were also awaiting the monetary policy decision from the Bank of Japan.

As in the rest of the world, soon-to-be-announced earnings in Asia also increased the wait-and-see atmosphere.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 5,813.67 after drifting between small gains and losses several times, but still near its all-time high from early October.

Dow Jones Industrial Average index decreased by 0.2 percent to 42,141.54 points, and Nasdaq index decreased by 0.6 percent to 18,607.93 points. He broke his own record the other day.

Alphabet rose 2.8% after beating analysts’ profit estimates in the latest quarter, thanks largely to the performance of its Google business. It is the last of a group of highly influential stocks known as. “The Magnificent Seven” growth exceeded high expectations.

Computer chip companies have been among the biggest winners of the AI ​​onslaught, but Advanced Micro Devices helped send shares in the sector lower after its latest quarterly earnings report only met analysts’ expectations.

Nvidia, the chip giant that has become one of Wall Street’s biggest and most influential stocks, was one of the S&P 500’s heaviest weights, down 1.4%.

One of the few stocks that caused this much damage to the index Eli Lilly lost 6.3 percent in value Amid concerns over two of the drugmaker’s blockbuster products: diabetes treatment Mounjaro and weight-loss counterpart Zepbound.

Another company that fell was Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind former Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform. It fell 22.3 percent, its worst loss since it took its place on the Nasdaq stock market following a merger with another company in March. The stock is known to be volatile and rebounded strongly last monthFrom $12 to $40.

In the bond market, yields rose following the latest data on the US economy. Growth in the overall economy slowed down According to the US government’s preliminary estimate, from spring to summer. But performance was slightly better than economists expected.

Non-government employers stepped up hiring in October when economists predicted a slowdown, a report published Wednesday suggested. It could boost optimism about a more comprehensive jobs report from the U.S. government on Friday.

A slowing economy is no surprise after the Federal Reserve sharply raised interest rates in hopes of curbing the economy enough to control inflation. The question is whether it can help keep the economy out of recession as the Fed begins lowering interest rates to keep the job market buoyant.

Investors largely expect the Fed to cut the federal funds rate by a quarter point at its next meeting next week, according to data from CME Group.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.28% from 4.26% late Tuesday and from just 3.60% in mid-September.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 21 cents to $68.82 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 33 cents to $72.88 a barrel.

In foreign exchange trading, the US dollar rose from 153.31 yen to 153.48 Japanese yen. The cost of the euro decreased from 1.0858 dollars to 1.0853 dollars.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

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Yuri Kageyama in X: https://x.com/yurikageyama