Asian shares mixed amid cautious mood; Wall St hits fresh record highs

Asian shares are mixed Monday in a cautious mode after Wall Street closed out the week with milestones as the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 28,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up nearly 0.2% to 23,344.06 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% to 6,760.60. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.2% to 2,157.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.3% to 26,657.14, while the Shanghai Composite was up nearly 0.2% at 2,896.47.

On Wall Street, health care and technology stocks powered most of the broad rally, which helped drive the S&P 500 to its sixth straight weekly gain. The Dow extended its streak of weekly gains to four.

Investors have been encouraged by surprisingly good corporate earnings, three interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and data showing the economy is still growing solidly.

Hopes that the U.S. and China can make progress in their latest push for a trade deal have also helped keep investors in a buying mood.

The S&P 500 index rose 23.83 points, or 0.8%, to 3,120.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 222.93 points, or 0.8%, to 28,004.89. The Nasdaq composite climbed 61.81, or 0.7%, to 8,540.83. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 7.66 points, or 0.5%, to 1,596.45.

The S&P, Dow and Nasdaq are now all up by more than 20% for the year.