Asian shares rose after Wall Street ended its record, mixed week

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mostly higher on Monday, supported by key rate decisions last week from the U.S. Federal Reserve, Japan, China and Britain.

US futures and oil prices were higher.

Chinese shares rose after the central bank cut its 14-day reverse repo rate to 1.85 percent from 1.95 percent on Monday, after opting to keep key lending rates unchanged last week. Markets were anticipating a cut.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.8 percent to 18,403.37 and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7 percent to 2,755.89.

Japan’s stock markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday.

Japan’s monetary policy remained in focus after the Bank of Japan announced it would keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%.

That weakened the Japanese yen, which has fallen from last week’s peak of around 140 to the US dollar. The dollar was trading at 144.36 yen on Monday.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 percent to 8,170.50. The Reserve Bank of Australia begins a two-day policy meeting on Monday.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 2,599.22.

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent from its record high to close at 5,702.55. The Nasdaq composite was down 0.4 percent at 17,948.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, added 0.1 percent to close at another record high of 42,063.36.

Last week, the Fed cut its key interest rate for the first time in more than four years, with more likely to come, ending a long run in which it held that interest rate at a two-decade high, hoping to slow the US economy enough to stamp. apart from high inflation. Inflation has eased from its peak two summers ago, and Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed can focus more on keeping the labor market strong and the economy out of recession.

The Fed is still under pressure as hiring has begun to slow under the weight of higher interest rates. Some critics say the central bank waited too long to cut interest rates and could be hurting the economy.

Critics also say the U.S. stock market may be overheated on the belief that the Federal Reserve will pull off what seemed nearly impossible earlier: getting inflation down to 2 percent without creating a recession.

Also last week, the Bank of England kept its key interest rate on hold at 5% following the Fed’s move.

This week will bring preliminary reports on US trade activity, the final review of how fast the economy grew in the spring and an update on US consumer spending.

In other trading early Monday, benchmark U.S. crude rose 59 cents to $71.59 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 52 cents to $75.01 a barrel.

The euro rose to $1.1164 from $1.1162.