On Thursday, most Asian shares went down as investors waited for many companies around the world to report their earnings. This includes updates from big U.S. tech companies known as the “Magnificent Seven.”
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dropped by 2.1%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell by 1.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained a little, while China’s Shanghai Composite index stayed almost the same.
In Australia, trading was closed for a national holiday called Anzac Day.
People are also interested in what the Bank of Japan will decide about its monetary policy in a meeting that started on Thursday.
The value of the U.S. dollar went up compared to the Japanese yen. The euro also went up a little compared to the dollar.
The yen has been weaker lately, which helps Japanese companies that sell things overseas but makes imports more expensive. Some people think Japan might do something to make the yen stronger.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were almost unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down a little.
Tesla’s stock went up a lot after it said it would make more affordable cars faster than expected. This news made investors happy, even though Tesla’s profit went down a lot.
Tesla is the first of the “Magnificent Seven” to report its earnings for this year. Investors are watching these companies closely because they had a big impact on the stock market last year.
Other big tech companies like Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Microsoft will report their earnings soon too.
People hope that many companies will show they are making more money, which could make investors feel more confident. This is because the U.S. economy is doing well, and companies usually make more money when the economy is good.
Some companies did well in the stock market after reporting good earnings, like Hasbro and Texas Instruments. But others, like Boeing and Teledyne Technologies, didn’t do as well.
