Asian stocks rise and oil prices slip after Treasury yields ease

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, May 23, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo)
HONG KONG--Asian stocks rose early Friday as U.S. Treasury yields eased after a rocky week due to worries in the bond market over mounting U.S. government debt.
The yield of the 10-year Treasury shed 0.6% to 4.52% while the two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Federal Reserve, slipped 0.4% to 3.98%.
Oil prices dropped on expectations that the OPEC+ group of oil exporters may decide on another increase in output at their next meeting.
U.S. benchmark crude oil dropped 51 cents to $60.69 per barrel while Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 51 cents to $63.93 per barrel.
In share trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% to 37,289.60 after the government reported a core inflation rate of 3.5% in April, the highest since early 2023.
The surge in prices has increased the likelihood that the Bank of Japan might raise its benchmark interest rate at its next policy meeting, analysts said.
But pressures and uncertainty from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hikes will limit what the BOJ can do, given recent signs of weakness in the economy, Min Joo Kang of ING Economics said in a report.
He added that 'with US tariffs likely to impact manufacturing and exports negatively throughout this year, the BOJ's policy changes are likely to be gradual.'
Hong Kong's Hang Seng picked up 0.4% to 23,627.99 while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1% to 3,382.12.
Seoul's Kospi climbed 0.2% to 2,597.49 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.4% to 8,379.10.
On Thursday, stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1%, to close at 5,842.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.35 points to 41,859.09. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3% to 18,925.73.
Technology stocks did most of the heavy lifting for the broader market. The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 lost ground, but gains for technology companies with outsized values offset those losses. Google's parent Alphabet jumped 1.4% and Nvidia rose 0.8%.
Treasury yields held a bit steadier in the bond market after the House of Representatives approved a bill that would cut taxes and could add trillions of dollars to the U.S. debt.
The House's multitrillion-dollar spending bill, which aims to extend some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks from President Donald Trump's first term while adding others, is expected to be amended when it gets to the Senate for a vote.
The legislation also includes a speedier rollback of production tax credits for clean electricity projects, which sent shares of solar companies tumbling. Sunrun dropped 37.1%, Enphase Energy fell 19.6% and First Solar slid 4.3%.
Health care stocks also fell Thursday after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it was immediately expanding its auditing of Medicare Advantage plans. UnitedHealth Group fell 2.1% and Humana lost 7.6%.
In economic updates, the number of Americans filing unemployment claims last week fell slightly. The broader employment market has remained strong, though businesses remain worried about the economic uncertainty amid a trade war.
The market had briefly turned higher earlier in the day following a better-than-expected report on manufacturing and services in the U.S. The survey from S&P Global showed growth for both areas in May following a sluggish April.
The report also reflected the impact of the trade war on supply chains, prices and concerns about the economic picture moving forward. New orders from businesses were a big driver of improvement, but much of that was from businesses trying to get ahead of a potentially hefty round of tariffs that could hit the economy in July.
The overall rise in prices charged for goods and services in May was the steepest since August 2022, according to the S&P Global report.
In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 143.45 Japanese yen from 144.01 yen. The euro rose to $1.1319 from $1.1279.

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