Asian stock markets were mostly down on Wednesday following a mixed day on Wall Street after a three-day holiday weekend.
Stocks in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Hong Kong declined, while Shanghai saw gains. Mainland Chinese markets were boosted by initiatives from city governments in China to bolster the property market. Oil prices also saw an increase.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.4% early on to 38,695.05. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.0% to 7,688.60. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9% to 2,698.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng decreased by 1.1% to 18,611.59, while the Shanghai Composite rose by 0.4% to 3,123.00.
On Wall Street, Tuesday saw most U.S. stocks declining in a quiet trading session, following a rise in bond yields.
The NYSE (Via Donald Tse/Shutterstock)
Around three-quarters of S&P 500 stocks fell, but a few major Big Tech stocks provided support, allowing the index to finish slightly higher at 5,306.04, a gain of 1.32 points or less than 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 38,852.86. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 17,019.88, building on its recent record high set on Friday.
Nvidia was a standout performer, jumping 7% and extending its year-to-date gain to 130%. The surge followed a strong earnings report last week, which eased concerns that the market’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence technology had driven expectations and prices too high.
U.S. Cellular rose 12.2% after T-Mobile announced it would acquire nearly all of the company for $4.4 billion, with up to $2 billion in assumed debt. Shares of T-Mobile US increased by 0.8%.
