Asia-Pacific markets closed mostly lower Wednesday, tracking Wall Street declines as concerns about artificial intelligence valuations continued to pressure tech stocks.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.34% lower at 48,537.7, while the Topix fell 0.17% to 3,245.58.
Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose about 2 basis points to 1.759%, the highest level since 2007. Those on the 20-year government bond rose almost 3 basis points to 2.811%, the highest level since 1999, while the 30-year bond yield rose nearly 4 basis points to hit 3.334% and was hovering near record highs.
The technology sector had dragged the Nikkei 225 index sharply lower in early trading, led by semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest which fell more than 4%, before paring losses to close 0.57% lower. Semiconductor firm Renesas ended the session down 3.02%.
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.61% to 3,929.51, and the small-cap Kosdaq retreated 0.84% to 871.32. Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix extended declines to end the 1.33% and 1.4% lower, respectively.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 lost 0.25% to 8,447.9.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.33%, while the mainland CSI 300 rose 0.44%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Xiaomi fell more than 4% after the Chinese tech company on Tuesday warned of higher smartphone prices in 2026, on the back of rising costs of memory chips to meet skyrocketing AI demand.
India’s Nifty 50 and Sensex index reversed course to trade 0.43% and 0.45% higher, respectively.
U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asian hours after the key indexes fell Tuesday stateside.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 498.50 points, or 1.07%, to settle at 46,091.74. The S&P 500 lost 0.83% to end the day at 6,617.32. It was the broad-based index’s fourth straight losing session, making for its longest slide since August. The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.21% to finish at 22,432.85.
The session saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average also drop for a fourth consecutive day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded its fifth negative day in six sessions.
Bitcoin dropped briefly below $90,000, a sign of reduced risk-taking by investors.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC