Asia-Pacific markets showed mixed performance on Wednesday as investors reacted to growing inflation fears on Wall Street amid rising Treasury yields and a tech sector retreat.
By 11:25 am AEDT (12:25 am GMT), Australia’s ASX 200 was flat at 8,282.8, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7%, and South Korea’s Kospi 200 gained 0.3%.
Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 1.1% in volatile trading, despite the company issuing a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter profit forecast of 6.5 trillion won (A$7.18 billion).
Overnight in the U.S., major indices closed lower as tech stocks dragged the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 42,528.4, the S&P 500 dropped 1.1% to 5,909, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.9% to 19,489.7.
Nvidia led the selloff in tech, plunging 6.2% after hitting a record high earlier this week. Tesla dropped 4% following a Bank of America downgrade citing valuation concerns and strategic risks. Meta Platforms shed nearly 2%, while Apple and Microsoft each dipped over 1%.
Among the S&P 500’s top performers were Moderna, which surged 11.7%, HCA Healthcare, up 3.8%, and First Solar, which gained 3.3%.
The biggest decliners included Palantir Technologies, down 7.8%, Nvidia, which shed 6.2%, and Super Micro Computer, falling 5.6%.
Chinese markets saw mixed results. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.7% to 3,229.6, and the CSI 300 climbed 0.7% to 3,796.1.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% to 19,447.6, partly weighed down by an 8% drop in Tencent Holdings. The decline came after the Chinese tech giant was added to the U.S. Department of Defense's list of "Chinese military companies."
India’s BSE Sensex also gained 0.3% to close at 78,199.11.
European markets finished mixed, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index down 0.1% to 8,245.3, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% to 20,340.6 and France’s CAC 40 increased 0.6% to 7,489.4.