Asian shares gained Friday as investors cheered a strong set of earnings from retailers that has sent U.S. shares higher. Benchmarks were rising in early trading across the region, including Japan, China, Australia and South Korea. “Improved risk sentiments in Wall Street, along with earnings outperformance from Alibaba and Baidu, may aid to fuel some upside for the Asia region into today’s session,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore. Shares of Alibaba and Baidu have surged after they reported better than expected results, easing some concerns about the negative impact from restrictions to curb COVID-19 infections. Both shares continued to rise in early trading. Also Read: Asian stock markets higher after Wall St sinks further Gauging Japan’s economic path will be on investors’ minds as data on manufacturing, housing and employment for April are set to be released next week. Some analysts expect the numbers to be dim because of a slowdown in exports to China during that period. But some optimism is also in the air, with Tokyo’s restrictions on tourists easing and the daily cap raising from 10,000 incoming people to 20,000 starting June 1. The Japanese government, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is also set to push ahead in parliamentary discussions with a supplementary budget, another possible plus for investors. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.8% in early trading to 26,811.06. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.9% to 7,167.70. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.0% to 2,638.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.8% to 20,687.39, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.6% to 3,141.15. Wall Street ended broadly higher after seven straight weeks of declines, the longest such stretch since 2001. Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set interest rates on mortgages, rose to 2.75% from 2.74% late Wednesday. Roughly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 rose, with technology companies, banks and retailers driving much of the rally. While trading has remained choppy this week, the market has mostly pushed higher, unlike the past five weeks, when the S&P 500 had a pullback of 2% or more at least one day each week. “It’s nice to see a couple days in the green, and this might actually end up being the first week when we don’t have a humongous down day,” said Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi. “But I wouldn’t declare premature victory and assume we’re in the clear.” The S&P 500 rose 79.11 points, or 2%, to 4,057.84. The Dow added 516.91 points, or 1.6%, to 32,637.19, and the Nasdaq rose 305.91 points, or 2.7%, to 11,740.65. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 39.07 points, or 2.2%, to 1,838.24. Retailers led the broader market higher Thursday. Macy’s surged 19.3% after it raised its profit forecast for the year following a strong first-quarter financial report. Dollar General vaulted 13.7% and Dollar Tree jumped 21.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the discount retailers reported solid earnings and gave investors encouraging forecasts. The retail sector is being closely watched by investors looking for more details on just how much pain inflation is inflicting on companies and consumers. Weak reports from the several big companies last week, including Target and Walmart, spooked an already volatile market. “We’re not convinced that we’re completely out of the woods here,” said Philip Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Hermes. “There were a lot of negative reports last week and what those companies have talked about is what is going on through the economy.” Inflation is at a four-decade high and businesses have been raising prices on everything from food to clothing to offset higher costs. The impact from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened inflation pressures by fueling higher energy and key food commodity costs. Supply chain problems worsened in the wake of China’s lockdown for several major cities as it tried to contain COVID-19 cases. Consumers have been resilient about spending, but the pressure from inflation remains persistent and could be prompting a pullback or shift in spending from more expensive things to necessities. The broad gains on Thursday followed a late push for markets on Wednesday prompted by details from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, which confirmed expectations of more interest rate hikes. Technology stocks also rose. TurboTax maker Intuit rose 4.6%. Companies in the sector, with their lofty stock values, tend to push the market harder up or down. Airline stocks rallied on encouraging summer travel forecasts. Southwest Airlines rose 6% and JetBlue rose 3.4%. In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude added 36 cents to $114.45 a barrel. U.S. crude oil prices rose 3.4% Thursday, and are up more than 55% for the year. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 45 cents to $117.85 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 126.79 Japanese yen from 127.10 yen. The euro cost $1.0763, up from $1.0733.

The price of oil jumped more than $10 a barrel and shares were sharply lower Monday as the conflict in Ukraine deepened amid mounting calls for harsher sanctions against Russia. Brent crude oil surged over $10 early Monday. Benchmark U.S. crude was up nearly $9 at more than $124 a barrel. The surge followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian statehood was imperiled as Russian forces battered strategic locations. A temporary cease-fire in two Ukrainian cities failed over the weekend — and both sides blamed each other. Oil prices came under additional pressure after Libya’s national oil company said an armed group had shut down two crucial oil fields. The move caused the country’s daily oil output to drop by 330,000. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, said the House was exploring legislation to further isolate Russia from the global economy, including banning the import of its oil and energy products into the U.S. By late morning in Tokyo, U.S. crude had jumped $9.08 to $124.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The all-time high was marked in July 2008, when the price per barrel of U.S. crude climbed to $145.29. That pushed the average price for gasoline in the U.S. above $4 a gallon, a milestone already reached again. The price of regular gasoline rose almost 41 cents, breaking $4 per gallon (3.8 liters) on average across the U.S. on Sunday for the first time since 2008, according to the AAA motor club. Read: Asian stocks rebound after Wall St falls on Ukraine tensions The all-time high for average gasoline prices was set in July 17, 2008 at $4.10 per gallon. Brent crude, the international pricing standard, hit $139.13 per barrel before falling back Monday. It was trading up $10.56 at $128.67 a barrel. On Wall Street, U.S. futures fell, with the contract for the benchmark S&P 500 down 1.6% and that for the Dow industrials falling 1.3%. Stock futures in Europe also declined. Higher fuel costs are devastating for Japan, which imports almost all its energy. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 3.5% in morning trading to 25,091.93. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 4.0% to 21,021.38, while South Korea’s Kospi dived 2.5% to 2,648.48. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.2% to 7,023.10. while the Shanghai Composite lost nearly 0.8% to 3,421.81. “The Ukraine-Russia conflict will continue to dominate market sentiments and no signs of conflict resolution thus far may likely put a cap on risk sentiments into the new week,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore. “It should be clear by now that economic sanctions will not deter any aggression from the Russians, but will serve more as a punitive measure at the expense of implication on global economic growth. Elevated oil prices may pose a threat to firms’ margins and consumer spending outlook.” Markets worldwide have swung wildly recently on worries about how high prices for oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region will go because of Russia’s invasion, inflaming the world’s already high inflation. Russian forces intensified shelling of cities in Ukraine’s center, north and south, according to a Ukrainian official, as a second attempt to evacuate civilians collapsed. Russia has made significant advances in southern Ukraine and along the coast, although many of its efforts have stalled, including an immense military convoy north of Kyiv. Read: Netflix, TikTok block services in Russia to avoid crackdown Companies have been exiting Russia, including Mastercard and Visa, as well as Netflix. The conflict in Ukraine also threatens the food supply in some regions, including Europe, Africa and Asia, which rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region, known as the “breadbasket of the world.” Wall Street finished last week with shares falling despite a much stronger report on U.S. jobs than economists expected. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 4,328.87, posting its third weekly loss in the last four. It is now down just under 10% from its record set early this year. The Dow, initially fell more than 500 points. It closed 0.5% lower at 33,614.80. The Nasdaq fell 1.7% to 13,313.44. The Russell 2000 index of small companies dropped 1.6% to 2,000.90. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 114.93 Japanese yen from 114.86 yen. The euro cost $1.0846, down from $1.0926.

The ruble plunged to a record low of less than 1 U.S. cent and most global stock markets declined Monday after Western nations moved to block some Russian banks from a global payments system. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused markets to swing wildly, given the potential impact on inflation, energy supplies and other economic repercussions. Putin's order that Russian nuclear weapons stand at increased readiness to launch ratcheted up tensions with Europe and the United States and revived dormant fears from the Cold War era. The Russian central bank raised its key rate to 20% from 9.5% in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent a run on banks. That brought a temporary reprieve for the Russian currency, which bounced back to the level it was at last week, but only briefly. Also read: Asian shares, US futures fall as Ukraine conflict deepens The ruble has plunged more than 30% after the move to block Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system. The sanctions include restrictions meant to crimp the Russian central bank’s access to over $600 billion in reserves and hinder its ability to support the ruble. A weaker ruble is expected to cause inflation to surge, potentially angering Russians whose budgets will be stretched by soaring prices. It will also add to strains across Russia's financial systems. Germany's DAX fell 2.1% to 14,263.95 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 2.3% to 6,595.83. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 1.7% to 7,365.29. In New York, the future for the S&P 500 was 1.6% lower and that for the Dow industrials declined 1.3%. Also read: World shares up, US futures sink as Russia moves toward Kyiv On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 2.2%, notching its first weekly gain in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.5% and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.6%. The Russell 2000 index rose 2.3%. The end of the month usually brings a raft of economic data, but for now the conflict is eclipsing other issues. “It’s all about the Russia-Ukraine situation and evolutions in that situation will drive market sentiment and direction,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary. “President Putin will now have to accept that the ‘Western’ powers are prepared to accept quite a bit of economic pain now to punish Russia,” he said. Markets in Asia appeared to take the latest developments more calmly. Japan's Nikkei 225 index recovered from earlier losses to edge 0.2% higher to 26,526.82. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2% to 22,713.02. The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3% to 3,462.31. The Kospi in Seoul climbed 0.8% to 2,699.18, while in Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,049.10. Although Asia is unlikely to suffer direct damage from the war in Ukraine, higher energy prices are an unwelcome burden for oil-importing nations like Japan, especially while they are still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Underscoring deepening rifts due to the conflict, BP said Sunday it was exiting its 19.75% share in Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil and gas company, which it has held since 2013. That stake is currently valued at $14 billion. Oil prices surged Monday, with U.S. benchmark crude up $4.33, or 4.7%, at $95.92 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.22 to 91.59 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude gained $4.20 to $98.32 per barrel, up 4.5% and approaching the $100 per barrel level it breached last week. The Ukraine conflict has heaped uncertainty atop other worries over interest rates and inflation. The U.S. Federal Reserve has suggested it will raise short-term interest rates next month by double its usual increase, the first rate increase since 2018. Higher U.S. rates tend to put downward pressure on all kinds of investments, and can have global repercussions. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 115.61 Japanese yen from 115.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.1165 from $1.1157.