Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday, tracking a mixed session on Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended record highs while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite declined.
By 11:40 am AEST (1:40 am GMT), Australia's S&P/ASX 200 had gained 0.6% to fresh record highs, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2% and South Korea's KOSPI 200 dropped 4.6%.
Regional technology heavyweights came under pressure, with SoftBank Group and Tokyo Electron both declining 6.2%. South Korea's SK Hynix fell 9.4%, while Samsung Electronics slipped 6.1%.
In South Korea, the Bank of Korea reported that the country's current account surplus reached US$49.73 billion in June, marking a second consecutive monthly record.
The surplus was supported by a surge in semiconductor exports from major Korean companies amid strong global demand linked to the artificial intelligence boom.
The figure marked the 38th consecutive month of current account surpluses, exceeding May's previous record of $38.61 billion by $11.12 billion.
Compared with the same month a year earlier, the surplus increased by $35.76 billion.
In Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the seasonally adjusted goods trade balance improved by A$4.296 billion to a surplus of $1.929 billion in June, compared with a deficit of $367 million in the previous month.
The result exceeded market expectations for a $1.1 billion deficit.
Goods exports increased by $4.196 billion, or 9.6%, driven by non-monetary gold, while imports declined by $100 million, or 0.2%, led by lower fuel and lubricant purchases.
In the United States, major benchmarks finished mixed on Wednesday. The Dow rose 0.5% to a fresh record close, while the S&P 500 declined 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude gained 0.1% to US$79.45 per barrel, while spot gold surged 4.2% to settle at US$4,247.07 per ounce.
Chinese markets advanced on Wednesday, with the SSE Composite Index rising 1.5% to 3,878.4, while the CSI 300 gained 1.2% to 4,658.2.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.2% higher to 25,915.8, while India's BSE Sensex added 0.2% to 78,581.0.
European markets ended mixed, with the UK's FTSE 100 rising 0.1% to 10,888.3. Germany's DAX slipped 0.3% to 26,126.3, while France's CAC 40 was virtually unchanged, edging up 0.03% to a record high of 8,669.3.
