Asia shares rise as Wall Street on track to end loss streak

A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Asian stock markets declined Monday after Wall Street ended last week lower and China tightened anti-virus controls. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A currency trader walks by the screen showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Asian stock markets declined Monday after Wall Street ended last week lower and China tightened anti-virus controls. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A currency trader watches computer monitors at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Asian stock markets declined Monday after Wall Street ended last week lower and China tightened anti-virus controls. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A currency trader walks by the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Asian stock markets declined Monday after Wall Street ended last week lower and China tightened anti-virus controls. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A currency trader walks by the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ), right, at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Asian stock markets declined Monday after Wall Street ended last week lower and China tightened anti-virus controls. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A person wearing a protective mask walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person wearing a protective mask walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 and New York Dow indexes at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person wearing a protective mask stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person wearing a protective mask stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index and U.S. dollar/Japanese yen exchange rate at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Tokyo. Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street shares fell for the fourth straight week. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to nearly 144 yen. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In this May 9, 2012 file photo, a Bed Bath & Beyond sign is shown in Mountain View, Calif. Bed Bath & Beyond has named its Chief Accounting Officer, Laura Crossen, as interim chief financial officer, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, following the death of Gustavo Arnal. The home goods retailer said in a regulatory filing that Crossen will continue as its principal accounting officer while serving in the interim role. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

A currency trader watches monitors in front of screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the exchange rate of South Korean won against the U.S. dollar, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. Asian benchmarks mostly rose Thursday, as investor optimism got a perk from a rally on Wall Street that's on track to break a three-week losing streak. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. Asian benchmarks mostly rose Thursday, as investor optimism got a perk from a rally on Wall Street that's on track to break a three-week losing streak. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. Asian benchmarks mostly rose Thursday, as investor optimism got a perk from a rally on Wall Street that's on track to break a three-week losing streak. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian benchmarks mostly rose Thursday, as investor optimism got a perk from a rally on Wall Street that's on track to break a three-week losing streak.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.3% to finish at 28,065.28. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.8% to 6,848.70. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.3% to 2,382.88. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.8% to 18,897.29, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,239.64.

Somewhat reassuring to market watchers was Japan's revised seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, or GDP, for the second quarter, which was revised upward to an annual rate of 3.5% growth, better than the initial estimate at 2.2%.

Data showed private consumption and business spending are holding up in the world's third-largest economy, which has managed to grow for three quarters straight. The on-quarter growth for GDP, or the sum of the value of a nation’s products and services, was revised upward to 0.9% from 0.5%. The annual numbers show how the economy would have grown if the quarterly rate were to continue for a year.

“Economic conditions in the region will continue to be in focus, with China’s trade balance data yesterday revealing challenges in both external and domestic demand,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore, referring to Wednesday’s Chinese data.

Investors are also watching for what may happen on interest rates at the European Central Bank's meeting, as well as for comments from U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, later Thursday.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 1.8%, its biggest single-day gain in four weeks, with roughly 95% of the stocks in the benchmark index closing higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.1%. Smaller company stocks outgained the broader market, driving the Russell 2000 index 2.2% higher.

The indexes are now all in the green for the week, a welcome respite for traders after a slump in recent weeks that erased much of the market's gains from a July and early August rally.

Wall Street watchers cautioned that the market is likely to see more volatility in coming weeks ahead of the next Federal Reserve interest rate policy update scheduled for Sept. 21.

“It's good that there's an up day, but I would caution anyone not to be too optimistic right now,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab. “You don't have a whole lot of reason for that.”

Wall Street's focus remains on the highest inflation in decades and the Fed's attempt to rein it in with high interest rates. The central bank has already raised rates four times this year and markets expect them to deliver another jumbo-sized increase of three-quarters of a percentage point at their next meeting in two weeks.

The central bank has been clear about its determination to continue raising rates until it feels that inflation is leveling off or cooling. In June, Fed officials projected that the benchmark rate will reach a range of 3.25% to 3.5% by year’s end and roughly a half-percentage point more in 2023.

“We are in this for as long as it takes to get inflation down,” Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard said at a banking industry conference on Wednesday. “Our resolve is firm, our goals are clear, and our tools are up to the task.”

Traders clawed back some of their recent losses with Wednesday’s rally, which pushed the S&P 500 up 71.68 points to 3,979.87. The Dow rose 435.98 points to 31,581.28, and the Nasdaq gained 246.99 points to 11,791.90. The Russell 2000 climbed 39.68 points to 1,832.

Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other loans, fell to 3.27% from 3.34% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to track expectations for Fed action, fell to 3.45% from 3.51%.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 66 cents to $82.60 a barrel. U.S. crude oil prices slid 5.7% Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 58 cents to $88.58 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 143.60 Japanese yen from 143.74 yen. The euro was little changed at $1.00.

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AP Business Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga and AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this story.

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama