MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%

Stocks made headway in Asian trading on Wednesday, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%.

Taiwanese stocks led gains in Asia, up 1%, while in Japan, the Topix gained 0.6% to hit a new record high.

SoftBank Group bucked the trend with a 6.2% drop, taking its month-to-date loss to 21% after it said it had sold its entire stake in Nvidia on Tuesday. Even after the recent decline, shares in Japan’s biggest tech sector investor have more than doubled this year.

It certainly is a signal that we are seeing or past peak momentum, said Sean Taylor, chief investment officer at Matthews Asia.

But the fundamentals are still good – AI capex spend, U.S. cutting rates, earnings, he added. So, at the moment the market is torn between short-term positioning and lack of catalysts after good performance, and a fundamentally good story and growth pick-up in 2026.

Sentiment improved after the U.S. Senate passed a bill to end the longest U.S. government shutdown on record, analysts from Westpac wrote in a research report. The House is expected to approve the bill in the coming days.

S&P 500 e-mini futures were trading 0.2% higher after a mixed session for U.S. stocks on Tuesday that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average add 1.2% to reach a record close, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.3%.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar’s strength against a number of six other currencies, was last 0.1% higher at 99.574, trading slightly higher after hitting the lowest levels this month earlier in the session. The U.S. currency firmed 0.2% against the yen to 154.48. The euro slid 0.1% to $1.1575.