Stock market today: Asian stocks follow Wall St tumble. Most markets in the region close for holiday

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks fell Wednesday with most of the markets in the region closed for a holiday. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks closed out their worst month since September.

Oil prices were lower and U.S. futures were mixed.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8%, down to 38,089.09 in early trading after the country’s factory activity experienced a milder shrink in April, as the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index from au Jibun Bank rose to 49.6 in April from 48.2 in March. A PMI reading under 50 represents a contraction, and a reading of 50 indicates no change.

The yen continues to struggle. On Wednesday, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.89 Japanese yen from 157.74 yen.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.2% to 7,574.20. Other markets in the region were closed due to the Labor Day holiday.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.6% to cement its first losing month in the last six, and ended at 5,035.69. Its momentum slammed into reverse in April — falling as much as 5.5% at one point — after setting a record at the end of March.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5% to 37,815.92, and the Nasdaq composite lost 2% to 15,657.82.

Stocks began sinking as soon as trading began, after a report showed U.S. workers won bigger gains in wages and benefits than expected during the first three months of the year. While that’s good news for workers and the latest signal of a solid job market, it feeds into worries that upward pressure remains on inflation.

It followed a string of reports this year that have shown inflation remains stubbornly high. That’s caused traders to largely give up on hopes that the Federal Reserve will deliver multiple cuts to interest rates this year. And that in turn has sent Treasury yields jumping in the bond market, which has cranked up the pressure on stocks.

Tuesday’s losses for stocks accelerated at the end of the day as traders made their final moves before closing the books on April, and ahead of an announcement by the Federal Reserve on interest rates scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

No one expects the Federal Reserve to change its main interest rate at this meeting. But traders are anxious about what Fed Chair Jerome Powell may say about the rest of the year.

GE Healthcare Technologies tumbled 14.3% after it reported weaker results and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. F5 dropped 9.2% despite reporting a better profit than expected.

McDonald’s slipped 0.2% after its profit for the latest quarter came up just shy of analysts’ expectations. It was hurt by weakening sales trends at its franchised stores overseas, in part by boycotts from Muslim-majority markets over the company’s perceived support of Israel.

Helping to keep the market’s losses in check was 3M, which rose 4.7% after reporting stronger results and revenue than forecast. Eli Lilly climbed 6% after turning in a better profit than expected on strong sales of its Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs for diabetes and obesity. It also raised its forecasts for revenue and profit for the full year.

Stocks of cannabis companies also soared after The Associated Press reported the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in a historic shift. Cannabis producer Tilray Brands jumped 39.5%.

The earnings reporting season has largely been better than expected so far. Not only have the tech companies that dominate Wall Street done well, so have companies across a range of industries.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.67% from 4.61%.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 76 cents to $81.17 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 72 cents to $86.51 a barrel.

In currency trading, the euro cost $1.0658, down from $1.0663.

A person passes the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Global shares are trading mostly higher as investors keep their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A window cleaner works along the window of at a securities firm building Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Japanese characters read as "securities." (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan Yen/U.S. dollar exchange rate at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People pass by an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index, left, and U.dollar/Japanese yen conversion rate at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Tokyo. Asian shares mostly rose Tuesday, as investors kept their eyes on potentially market-moving reports expected later this week.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — An exhaustive rescue operation to find missing construction workers trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in South Africa ended Friday after nearly two weeks, as authorities released a major revision of their figures and said they now believe that no one else is missing.

They confirmed that 33 workers died in the collapse of the five-story apartment building that was under construction in the city of George on South Africa’s south coast.

Authorities in the city had said that 19 workers were still unaccounted for and believed to be buried in the rubble of the unfinished building that came crashing down on May 6.

But as rescue crews and other personnel finished moving concrete and clearing the debris on Friday, the city said that it now believed that a total of 62 construction workers were at the site when the building collapsed, and not 81 as it previously announced. The conclusion came after more consultations with the building company, police and other new sources of information, the city said.

That meant that all workers were now accounted for: the 33 dead and 29 rescued, the city said. Of the dead, 27 were men and six were women, the city said.

The tragedy was one of South Africa's worst building collapses.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the collapsed building on Thursday to show support for the victims' families, emergency workers and others who had been on the site for more than 250 hours, working night and day in shifts to try and locate and rescue survivors. Five of the victims were taken out of the building alive but later died in the hospital, authorities said. Ten people remain in the hospital.

More than 1,000 emergency responders, rescuers, volunteers and other personnel were part of the search efforts.

There were some remarkable stories of survival amid the thousands of tons of concrete that collapsed, including a man who was found alive after being trapped for six days without food and water. Rescuers said he incredibly had only minor injuries.

As the rescue operation ended and became a clear-up operation, the building will be handed over to the national department of employment and labor to conduct an investigation into the collapse, the city said. There will be several other investigations, including by police and the provincial Western Cape government.

"This was a devastating tragedy," said Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, the head of the provincial government. "We need to understand what happened and what steps need to be taken to ensure that we do whatever we can to hold those who need to be held to account.”

Many of the workers were foreign nationals from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The construction contractors responsible for the building have come under scrutiny and the investigations will probe whether they adhered to safety standards. The building was due to be completed in July or August.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Rescue teams at the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Rescue teams are into a third day searching for dozens of construction workers buried in the rubble of an unfinished five-story apartment building that collapsed in South Africa. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

Rescue personnel search the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Rescue teams searching for dozens of construction workers missing after a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in the coastal city have not brought out more survivors in the past 24 hours. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The scene of a collapsed building in George, South Africa, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Five workers have been killed with 49 still trapped after the building under construction collapsed Monday. (AP Photo)

Residents watch rescue workers search the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Rescue teams are searching for dozens of construction workers missing after a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in the coastal city have brought out more survivors as the operation entered a second night of desperate work to find anyone alive in the mangled wreckage. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Emergency workers on the scene of a building collapse in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Rescue teams trying to find dozens of construction workers missing since a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa have made contact with 11 people buried alive beneath the mangled wreckage, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

A survivor is bought to the surface at the scene of a building collapse in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Rescue teams trying to find dozens of construction workers missing since a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa have made contact with 11 people buried alive beneath the mangled wreckage, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)