Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Wednesday, even as concerns over artificial intelligence and softer economic data unsettled United States investors overnight.
By 11:45 am AEDT (12:45 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 1.1% higher, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 ticked up 0.1%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed for a public holiday.
In South Korea, fresh labour market data showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3% in January 2026, down from a downwardly revised 3.3% in December, which had marked a one-year high.
Meanwhile, China's consumer price index rose 0.2% in January from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics, undershooting economists’ forecasts of a 0.4% increase, while the producer price index came in at -1.4% compared with -1.9% in December.
Overnight on Wall Street, major benchmarks delivered a mixed performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to a fresh record closing high, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6%, as investors weighed AI-related pressures on financial stocks and weaker consumer spending data.
In commodities, Brent crude settled 0.4% lower at US$68.80 per barrel on Tuesday. Spot gold declined 0.7% to US$5,025.12 per ounce.
Elsewhere in Asia on Tuesday, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 4,128.4, while the CSI 300 also added 0.1% to close at 4,724.3.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.6% to 27,183.2, and India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.3% to 84,273.9.
European markets ended Tuesday's session mixed. The UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 10,353.8, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1% to 24,987.9, while France’s CAC 40 edged 0.1% higher to 8,327.9.
