England holds off New Zealand 24-12 in women's rugby

LONDON (AP) — Top-ranked England downed world champion New Zealand 24-12 at Twickenham on Saturday, a year out from the next Women's Rugby World Cup.

Tries by flanker Marlie Packer, winger Abby Dow, fullback Ellie Kildunne and scrumhalf Natasha Hunt staked England to 24-0. The Black Ferns rallied with a pair of tries by wing Katelyn Vaha'akolo, shaking off rust from being inactive since thrashing Australia in July.

England has won three of four from New Zealand since 2021. The one exception was the 2022 World Cup final won by the Black Ferns in Auckland. England has since won 17 straight tests.

Both teams were also warming up for the WXV1 in Vancouver in two weeks.

Coming off a 38-19 win over France last weekend, England took the lead in the 17th minute against the run of play. Prop Sarah Bern's burst helped to set up the driving maul that ended with Packer touching down.

The Black Ferns showed greater energy in attack but Packer’s try ignited the hosts, who sent Dow racing over. The try was made possible by Tatyana Heard’s bullet pass to Dow.

Kildunne was the next over the whitewash after finishing England’s patient buildup with a step inside, leaving New Zealand in urgent need of a rousing halftime team talk to prevent a heavy defeat in front of a 41,500-strong crowd.

Instead, a fourth try was leaked to Hunt just two minutes after the interval, even though England was down to 14 players because of Zoe Aldcroft's yellow card.

The Black Ferns hustle a try through Vaha'akolo in the 52nd and, in further evidence the intensity was draining from England's game, she added her second heading into the final quarter. But the comeback stopped there.

New Zealand's Tanya Kalounivale, center, is tackled by England's Natasha Hunt and Marlie Packer during the Women's International match between England and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)

England's Alex Matthews is tackled by New Zealand's Renee Holmes, right, during the Women's International match between England and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)

England's Abbie Ward wins the ball from the lineout during the Women's International match between England and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)

England's Abby Dow scores their side's second try of the game during the Women's International match between England and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)

England's Emily Scarratt is tackled by New Zealand's Kennedy Tukuafu, right, during the Women's International match between England and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Shares soared Tuesday in Shanghai as Chinese markets reopened after a weeklong holiday but then gave up a chunk of their initial gains as the details of Beijing's plans to revive the world's second-largest economy appeared to fall flat.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 3.1% at 3,438.16, though in Shenzhen, Japan's smaller market, the main index gained 6.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 7.6% to 21,336.70 as traders, apparently underwhelmed by the update from Beijing, sold to lock in profits from recent gains.

The Shanghai benchmark initially gained 10% but fell back as officials of China's main economic planning agency briefed reporters about a slew of policies announced earlier that were meant to address various problems such as a protracted slump in the property market.

“China’s markets rally has hit a wall, leaving investors deflated. The reopening surge from the week-long holiday barely had time to gather steam before fizzling out, and now the once-thrilled bulls are licking their wounds,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mostly lower.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.3% to 38,842.75. as the dollar fell to 147.89 Japanese yen from 148.18 yen. A weaker yen tends to push share prices higher.

The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.4% to 2,599.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.4% to 8,176.90.

On Monday, U.S. stocks slid after Treasury yields hit their highest levels since the summer and oil prices continued to climb.

The S&P 500 dropped 1% to 5,695.94 and is still close to its all-time high set a week earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% to 41,954.24, coming off its own record. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.2% to 17,923.90.

It’s a stall for U.S. stocks after they rallied to records on relief that interest rates are finally heading back down, now that the Federal Reserve has widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation. A blowout report on U.S. jobs growth released Friday raised optimism about the economy and hopes that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing for it.

When Treasury bonds, which are seen as the safest possible investments, are paying more in interest, investors become less inclined to pay very high prices for stocks and other things that carry bigger risk of losing money.

It’s more difficult to look attractive to investors seeking income when a 10-year Treasury is paying a 4.02% yield, up from 3.97% late Friday and from 3.62% three weeks ago.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, jumped more on Monday. It rose to 3.99% from 3.92% late Friday.

Treasury yields may also be feeling upward push from the recent jump in oil prices. Crude prices have been spurting higher on worries that worsening tensions in the Middle East could ultimately lead to disruptions in the flow of oil.

Brent crude, the international standard, shed $1.23 to $79.70 per barrel. It had jumped 3.7% Monday. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, slipped $1.21 to $75.93. It also gained 3.7% on Monday.

Stocks that are seen as the most expensive can feel the most downward pressure from higher Treasury yields, and the spotlight has been on Big Tech stocks. They drove the majority of the S&P 500’s returns in recent years and soared to heights that critics called overdone.

Apple fell 2.3%, Amazon dropped 3% and Alphabet sank 2.4% to act as some of Monday's heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

An exception was Nvidia, which rose another 2.3%. It rode another upswell in excitement about artificial-intelligence technology after Super Micro Computer soared 15.8% after saying it recently shipped more than 100,000 graphics processing units with liquid cooling.

If Treasury yields keep rising, companies will likely need to deliver bigger profits to drive their stock prices much higher, and this week marks the start of the latest corporate earnings reporting season.

Analysts say earnings per share grew 4.2% during the summer for S&P 500 companies from a year earlier, led by technology and health care companies, according to FactSet. If those analysts are correct, it would be a fifth straight quarter of growth.

In other dealings early Tuesday, the euro rose to $1.0982 from $1.0977.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed.

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Sept. 24, 2024., 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (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, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader passes by a 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, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)