Asian mkts in wait n watch mode
In Asian markets Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and The Shanghai Composite made gains many markets were trading lower and all US bourses ended in negative territory
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Hong Kong: Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after technology stocks led Wall Street broadly lower on Tuesday, with investors waiting for chipmaker Nvidia’s quarter earnings report. The report, which will come out later in the day, will put stock markets in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan on alert as these three regions contributed over 45 per cent of Nvidia’s Revenue in the third quarter. US futures fell, while oil prices gained. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost over 0.4 per cent in morning trading at 38,200.00. Japan’s exports experienced a remarkable year-on-year increase of 11.9 per cent in January, driven by strong demand from chip-making machinery in China, and solid export gains of auto in the US and EU, according to Wednesday data from the Ministry of Finance.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.8 per cent to 16,698.00, driven by Tech Index, which advanced 3.6 per cent. The Shanghai Composite was up 1.7 per cent to 2,972.87. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.8 per cent to 7,600.00 despite Wednesday data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing the country’s wage index increased by 4.2 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, marking the highest recorded annual increase since the March quarter of 2009. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4 per cent to 2,647.44.
On Tuesday Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to 4,975.51. It is coming off only its second losing week in the last 16. The losses pushed the benchmark index further below the record it set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent, to 38,563.80. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9 per cent, to 15,630.78. Technology stocks were the biggest drag on the market, with chipmakers as a particularly heavy weight. Nvidia slumped 4.4 per cent.
