Asian shares mostly rise, Tokyo hits record, tracking fresh highs on Wall Street

Hong Kong, Jan 13 (AP) Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday, led by a rally in Japan after Wall Street hit more records. US futures edged lower, and oil prices gained.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.1 per cent to 53,549.16 at close, a record. Technology-related stocks helped lift the benchmark. Compute chip testing equipment maker Advantest surged 8.5 per cent. Chip maker Tokyo Electron jumped 8.2 per cent, and SoftBank Group rose 4.3 per cent.

Investors are also closely monitoring the prospects for a possible snap election. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to opt for an early election to help strengthen her policy mandate for higher government spending.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.7 per cent to 26,786.69. Shares of China-based

chip designer GigaDevice Semiconductor jumped as much as 54 per cent in the company’s Hong Kong trading debut. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.6 per cent to 4,138.76.

South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.5 per cent higher at 4,692.64 at close, also a record.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.6 per cent to 8,808.50. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.5 per cent, while the Sensex in India lost almost 0.5 per cent.

US stock futures fell slightly on Tuesday. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined nearly 0.1 per cent.

On Wall Street, concern over the potential consequences of a weakening of the Federal Reserve’s independence in setting interest rates appeared to be offset by investors’ expectations that President Donald Trump may prevail in pushing the central bank to cut rates at a faster pace. Lower interest rates mean cheap credit and tend to fuel stronger stock prices.

Tensions between Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell escalated after the Department of Justice subpoenaed the Fed and threatened a criminal indictment over Powell’s testimony regarding building renovations at the central bank’s headquarters.

On Monday, the S&P 500 gained almost 0.2 per cent to 6,977.27 to a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also edged up 0.2 per cent, to 49,590.20, for its own record. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent to 23,733.90.

Trump has repeatedly called for the Fed to further lower interest rates and reduce borrowing costs for households and companies, even as the Fed cut rates three times in 2025. The White House said Monday that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell.

Alphabet, Google’s parent, gained 1 per cent, taking its market value to more than USD 4 trillion, after Apple said it would use Google’s Gemini to help smarten up virtual assistant Siri in a new deal.

Credit card companies led losses after Trump said he wanted a one-year, 10 per cent cap on credit card interest rates, which could eat into the profits of these companies. Synchrony Financial dipped 8.4 per cent, Capital One Financial fell 6.4 per cent, and American Express edged down 4.3 per cent.

In other dealings early Tuesday, the price of gold dipped 0.5 per cent, and the price of silver edged 0.1 per cent lower.

The dollar rose to 158.79 yen, up from 158.07 yen. It has been trading near its highest level in a year.

The euro slipped to USD 1.1664, down from USD 1.1667. (AP) SKS SKS