Stock market today: Asian shares trade mostly higher after S&P 500, Nasdaq reach more records

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday after Wall Street benchmarks reached more milestones.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5% in morning trading to 41,386.80. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,819.30. South Korea's Kospi edged up nearly 0.1% to 2,859.63. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.4% to 17,450.73, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching down to 2,921.88.

“Risk-taking will still likely be more measured ahead of the Federal Reserve Chair’s testimony and the key U.S. inflation release this week,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite each notched all-time highs after finishing with gains of 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up an early gain and closed 0.1% lower.

Wall Street indexes have been gaining ground steadily over the last several months, and that has helped push the benchmark S&P 500 index to 35 records so far this year.

“The current market is positive and steady to a nearly unprecedented degree,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “It’s extremely rare to see these types of consistent gains with almost no volatility.”

Gains in tech stocks, including several chipmakers, tempered declines in communication services, energy and other sectors of the S&P 500. Nvidia rose 1.9%, Broadcom added 2.5% and Advanced Micro Devices finished with a 3.9% gain.

Specialty glassware maker Corning surged 12% for the biggest gain in the market Monday after raising its sales forecast.

Troubled airplane maker Boeing rose 0.5% after agreeing to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people. The government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years.

Entertainment giant Paramount Global slid 5.3% for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks after it agreed to merge with Skydance.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 5.66 points to 5,572.85. The Nasdaq added 50.98 points to close at 18,403.74. The Dow fell 31.08 points to 39,344.79.

Traders are looking ahead to several earnings reports this week including updates from Delta Air Lines on Thursday.

JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will report results on Friday. The latest updates for banks could give Wall Street a clearer picture on how consumers are handling increased debt and whether banks are worried about payments and potential delinquencies.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The central bank has kept its benchmark interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades in an effort to tame inflation.

The Fed's goal is to cool inflation back to 2% without slowing economic growth too much. Inflation is still squeezing consumers, but it has fallen significantly from its peak two years ago. Economic growth has slowed this year, but it remains relatively strong amid a solid jobs market and consumer spending.

The central bank will get more updates on inflation at the consumer level on Thursday. Wall Street expects the latest government report to show inflation easing to 3.1% in June from 3.3% in May.

A report for inflation at the wholesale level, before costs are passed on to consumers, is expected Friday.

Inflation is seemingly stuck at around 3% by most measures. That has prompted more caution from the Fed and dampened expectations for the number of anticipated rate cuts this year. Most experts are expecting one rate cut from the Fed this year, but not until September. The Fed holds its next policy meeting later this month.

Treasury yields were relatively stable in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.27% from 4.28% late Friday.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude shed 26 cents to $82.07 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slid 27 cents to $85.48 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 161.00 Japanese yen from 160.78 yen.

Analysts said the euro was showing stability despite the ample political uncertainty after the recent French elections. The outcome was being seen as preferable to a possibly more disruptive outcome with a majority win by the far-right or far-left, they said.

The euro cost $1.0826, little changed from $1.0828.

AP Business Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed to this report.

Currency traders work near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader passes by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is seen on July 3, 2024, in New York. Asian stocks have fallen while European markets are higher on Monday, July 8, 2024, after France's elections left its legislature divided among left, center and far right, with no single political faction getting close to a majority. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm under the intense sun Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People are reflected on the window of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm under the intense sun Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm under the intense sun Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

FILE - A person walks past at an electronic stock board showing financial indexes including Japan's Nikkei 225 index, green, at a securities firm in Tokyo, June 27, 2024. Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday, July 5, after solid gains in Europe overnight, while U.S. markets were closed for the July 4th holiday. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is seen on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. Shares advanced Friday, July 5, 2024, in Europe after Britain's Labour Party prevailed over the Conservatives in this week's national election. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Among the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed for the wreck of the Titanic were “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation of the journey of the Titan before it imploded, killing all five on board.

The U.S. Coast Guard presented the animation Monday on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion. Crew aboard the Titan were communicating via text messages with staff aboard the support ship Polar Prince, according to the presentation.

The crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the submersible's depth and weight as it descended. The Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. One of Titan’s final responses, which became spotty as it descended, was “all good here.”

The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, setting off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

The Titan was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023, Coast Guard representatives said in their initial remarks Monday. The hull was also never reviewed by any third parties as is standard procedure, they said. That and the submersible's unconventional design subjected the Titan to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

The hearing’s first witness, OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen, testified Monday that the Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018, and that might have compromised its hull. Nissen said he was fired in 2019 when he wouldn’t let the submersible go to the Titanic, and he told Rush the submersible was “not working like we thought it would.”

Nissen said the submersible later went through other tests and adjustments before its subsequent dives to the Titanic. However, he testified that he was asked to pilot the submersible and replied: “I’m not getting in it.”

Nissen added that Rush could be difficult to work for and was often very concerned with costs and project schedules, among other issues. He said Rush would fight for what he wanted, which often changed day to day. He added that he tried to keep his clashes with Rush behind closed doors so that others in the company wouldn’t be aware.

“Most people would eventually just back down to Stockton,” he said.

The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard's commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.

“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing. “But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.”

Among those killed was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned the Titan. The company suspended operations after the implosion.

Also scheduled to speak were the company's former finance director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson.

Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company's communications director.

The Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations, said Melissa Leake, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard. She added that it's common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.”

Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former operations director, David Lochridge; and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, Leake said.

OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said.

The implosion also killed veteran Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding.

The Titan lost contact with its support vessel about two hours after it made its final dive later. When it was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

The search for the submersible attracted worldwide attention, as it became increasingly unlikely that anyone could have survived the implosion. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

The time frame for the investigation was initially a year, but the inquiry has taken longer. The Coast Guard said in July that the hearing would delve into “all aspects of the loss of the Titan,” including both mechanical considerations as well as compliance with regulations and crewmember qualifications.

This story has been edited to clarify that “all good here” was one of the last things heard from the submersible, not necessarily the very last thing heard.

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen, left, speaks with Nicole Emmons, right, during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard's Thomas Whalen speaks with another Coast Guard member during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Jason Neubauer, board chairman, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pauses for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pause for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing take an oath inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

FILE - This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)