CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, amid a broad selloff in global technology stocks mirroring a sharp selloff in heavyweight U.S. technology shares on apprehensions that intense enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence could be overdone after reports stated that Nvidia is developing a new AI chip for China. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday.
Traders were looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the US Fed's latest monetary policy meeting in the day and the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium that gets underway on Thursday.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium on Friday, with remarks potentially impacting the outlook for interest rates.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is an 86.9 percent chance the Fed will lower interest rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.
Stagflation concerns are on the rise and markets are currently looking forward to at least a 25-basis-point rate cut at the September FOMC meeting.
According to Bank of America Global Research (by Reuters), 70 percent of surveyed investors expect a stagflationary environment in the coming months, driven by weaker jobs data, higher core inflation and a sharp rebound in producer prices.
Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,900 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with strong gains in financial stocks partially offset by weakness in mining, energy and technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 36.30 points or 0.41 percent to 8,932.50, after hitting a low of 8,857.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 22.40 points or 0.24 percent to 9,196.20. Australian stocks ended notably lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is losing almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is declining more than 3 percent, while Fortescue is edging up 0.1 percent and Rio Tinto is gaining almost 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.4 percent, Beach energy is losing more than 1 percent and Santos is declining more than 2 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Appen are declining more than 2 percent each, while Zip is slipping more than 3 percent, Xero is edging down 0.2 percent and WiseTech Global is losing more than 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, Westpac is advancing more than 2 percent, National Australia bank is rising more than 3 percent, ANZ Banking is gaining almost 3 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Gold Road Resources are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are slipping more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is sliding almost 4 percent.
In other news, shares in James Hardie are plummeting almost 27 percent after reporting down beat quarterly results and disappointing earnings guidance.
Shares in Lynch Group are skyrocketing more than 24 percent after TPG Capital's Hasfarm Holdings floated a $270 million takeover bid for the Australian flower company at $2.245 per share.
Shares in Magellan Financial are jumping more than 6 percent after it lifted annual dividend 12 percent, despite down beat results.
Shares in Lottery Corp. are surging almost 8 percent after the lottery and gaming operator reported upbeat full-year results and lifted dividend.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.644 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 42,900 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in automakers and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 42,883.17, down 663.12 points or 1.52 percent, after hitting a low of 42,776.60 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is slipping almost 8 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding 1.5 percent and Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 6 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent and Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 3 percent and Canon is edging down 0.3 percent, while Panasonic is adding more than 1 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among other major losers, Socionext is plunging almost 7 percent, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Fujikura are tumbling almost 6 percent each. Furukawa Electric is sliding more than 5 percent, while IHI and Ebara are declining almost 4 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Disco are losing more than 3 percent each, while Japan Steel Works is down almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Oriental Land is surging more than 4 percent, while Shiseido and Nippon Express are advancing almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 3.0 percent on month in June, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - coming in at 941.2 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 0.4 percent following the 0.6 percent drop in May.
On a yearly basis, core machinery orders climbed 7.6 percent - again exceeding expectations for an increase of 5.0 percent following the 4.4 percent gain in the previous month. For the second quarter of 2025, orders were up 0.4 percent on quarter and 6.3 percent on year; for the third quarter, orders are forecast to fall 0.4 percent on quarter and rise 5.0 percent on year.
The Ministry of Finance said Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 117.550 billion yen in July. That missed forecasts for a surplus of 196.2 billion yen following the downwardly revised 152.1 billion yen surplus in June (originally 153.1 billion yen).
Exports were down 2.6 percent on year at 9.359 trillion yen, missing forecasts for a fall of 2.1 percent following the 0.5 percent decline in the previous month.
Imports fell an annual 7.5 percent to 9.476 trillion yen versus expectations for a drop of 10.4 percent following the upwardly revised 0.3 percent increase a month earlier (originally 0.2 percent).
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand is up 1.2 percent, while China, Singapore and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.6 percent each. South Korea and Taiwan are lower by 1.8 and 2.3 percent, respectively. Hong Kong and Malaysia are down 0.3 and 0.4 percent, respectively.
On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after ending Monday's choppy session little changed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a particularly steep loss, although the Dow ended the day roughly flat.
The Nasdaq ended the day just off its lows of the session, tumbling 314.82 points or 1.5 percent to 21,314.95. The S&P 500 also slid 37.78 points or 0.6 percent to 6,411.37. Meanwhile, the Dow inched up 10.45 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,922.27 after reaching a record intraday high in early trading.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices declined on Tuesday amid supply side concerns as OPEC continues to unwind 2.2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts by its member nations. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.07 or 1.69 percent at $62.35 per barrel.
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