Asian shares rebound on strong US economic data

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian markets rebounded on Friday as strong U.S. economic data supported the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates.

KEEPING SCORE: Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.6 percent to 27,875.17. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8 percent to 2,814.46. Australia's S&P ASX 200 was 0.5 percent higher at 6,213.20. South Korea's Kospi bucked the regional trend, losing 0.4 percent to 2,347.19. Shares fell in Taiwan but rose in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

JAPAN-US-TRADE: Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7 percent to 24,202.40, after the country agreed to open negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. The move won Japan relief from the immediate threat of punitive tariffs on its auto exports to the U.S. The yen rose sharply against the dollar overnight.

WALL STREET: Broad gains by Apple and Amazon helped most U.S. indexes bounce back from four days of modest losses. Apple rose 2.1 percent to $224.95 on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase analyst Samik Chatterjee said the stock could climb another 20 percent by the end of next year. Amazon gained 1.9 percent to $2,012.98 after another analyst forecast more revenue for its retail, advertising and web services units. The S&P 500 index rose 0.3 percent to 2,914.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 percent to 26,439.93. The Nasdaq composite was 0.6 percent higher at 8,041.97. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks dipped 0.1 percent to 1,690.53.

U.S. ECONOMY GROWS: The U.S. economy grew at a robust annual rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter, its best performance in nearly four years, the government reported Thursday. "We're doing much better than anybody thought possible," President Donald Trump said at a news conference. But economists believe growth has slowed in the current quarter partly because of a drag from trade. On Wednesday, the Fed signaled its confidence in the U.S. economy by raising a key interest rate for a third time this year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said another hike was likely before the year's end.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "Macro data over the last 24 hours is affirming a pro-growth stance ... coming on the back of the Fed's upbeat assessment of the outlook and Powell's view that a recession in the next two years is highly unlikely," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said in an interview.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 14 cents to $72.26 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 0.8 percent on Thursday to close at $72.12. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was flat at $81.38 per barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 113.56 yen from 113.42 yen. The euro weakened to $1.1647 from $1.1658.