Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Wednesday, tracking a similar session in the U.S. stock market overnight. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped, strength in big-cap tech stocks helped the Nasdaq Composite reach a fresh high, fuelled by strong earnings reports.
By 12:15 pm AEDT (1:15 am GMT) Australia’s ASX 200 and South Korea’s Kospi 200 both edged lower, down 0.3% and 0.5% respectively, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose by 0.8% as investors digested the latest earnings updates from global tech giants.
The U.S. session saw the Nasdaq Composite rally to a new high, the first since July, as investor enthusiasm centered on a packed week of earnings reports, particularly from major tech companies.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results after markets closed, boosting confidence.
Other leading tech firms, including Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, are slated to release their earnings later in the week.
The Nasdaq climbed 0.8% to notch its 28th record close of the year, while the S&P 500 gained 0.2%, and the Dow Industrials slipped by 0.4%.
Chinese markets closed on a downbeat note, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping 1.1% to 3,286.4. Conversely, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended higher, gaining 0.5% to close at 20,701.1.
India's BSE SENSEX added 364 points or 0.5% to 80,369.
European markets also closed lower amid earnings reports, with the FTSE 100 Index in the UK dropping 0.8% to 8,219.61. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.3% to 19,478.07, and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.6% to 7,511.11.