Asian stocks are mostly higher, while Japan’s Nikkei falls ahead of weekend election

HONG KONG — Asian stocks were mostly higher Friday aside from in Japan, where investors were awaiting the outcome of an election on Sunday.

U.S. derivatives and oil prices rose.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office just weeks ago, called the snap general election to drum up back as the ruling Liberal Democrats grapple with a political financing scandal. Recent upheavals have added to uncertainty for markets, complicating the lender of Japan’s efforts to shift away from long-standing near-zero gain rates.

Core expense boost in Japan’s fund was 1.8% in October, lower than the central lender’s 2% target for the first period in five months, the government reported. That reinforced expectations that the central lender will keep its key gain rate unchanged at a policy conference next week.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.6% to 37,913.92, while the Japanese yen fell against the U.S. dollar. On Friday, the dollar was buying and selling at 151.90 yen, up from 151.89 yen.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6% to 20,616.83, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.4% to 3,294.38.

China’s central lender kept its medium-term lending rate unchanged at 2%. It also issued 700 billion yuan ($98.3 billion) in one-year medium-term lending facility loans to financial institutions, according to the lender’s statement.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1% to 2,583.69 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.1% to 8,211.30. Taiwan’s Taiex increased 0.5%.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,809.86, breaking its first three-day losing streak since early September. It bounced between losses and gains through the day, and it was roughly evenly split between stocks rising and falling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 42,374.36 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8% to 18,415.49.

Tesla led the economy with a jump of 21.9% after the electric-vehicle maker reported better earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected. An optimistic CEO Elon Musk also predicted 20%-30% sales growth next year, though turnover for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ forecasts. It was the best day for Tesla’s stake since 2013.

Boeing sank 1.2% after its machinists voted to continue their strike, which has crippled aircraft production. More than 60% of union members who voted on the proposed deal rejected it, keeping them on the picket lines six weeks into their strike.

Stocks have broadly retreated this week after the S&P 500 and Dow both set records at the complete of last week. They’ve been hurt by rising Treasury yields in the debt safety economy, which can make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks. Critics had already been saying beforehand that stocks looked too expensive given how much faster their prices have risen than corporate profits.

A update on unemployment claims Thursday offered a mixed picture on the job economy. It said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, which can be a signal of relatively low layoffs. But it also said the total number of those collecting benefits rose to its highest level in almost three years.

Treasury yields, which had eased overnight, pared their losses after the release of the unemployment claims update before yo-yoing. The gain on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.20% from 4.25% late Wednesday. It’s still well above its 4.08% level from late last week.

A divide preliminary update said growth in U.S. business activity may have accelerated slightly last month, as strength for companies in services industries continue to make up for weakness in manufacturing. The update from S&P Global also showed a recovery in confidence as companies anticipate greater stability and certainty after the upcoming presidential election.

A third update, meanwhile, said sales of recent homes were stronger last month than economists expected.

In other dealings early Friday, standard U.S. crude added 16 cents to $70.35 a barrel in electronic buying and selling on the recent York Mercantile trade. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 14 cents to $74.17 a barrel.

The euro fell to $1.0817 from $1.0828.