In Hong Kong and mainland China, shares opened lower Wednesday after the Wall Street losses
Asian stock markets were mostly lower Wednesday, tracking US losses as investors await a tech earnings report and Fed policy meeting minutes later during the day.
The tech-savvy Nasdaq dropped around 1% in US trading on Tuesday ahead of chip giant Nvidia’s highly anticipated results, with traders hoping it can meet high expectations driven by the AI sector and the company’s strong growth.
The company’s results have become the biggest of the reporting period, acting as both a macroeconomic barometer and the proverbial canary in the coal mine for the AI boom, Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.Com Inc, told Bloomberg.
With its huge valuation, “the bar for an upside surprise is set high,” Rodda said.
Nvidia was nearly 4% lower on Tuesday, but its shares are still well up since the beginning of the year, with enthusiasm for AI-related companies having sent its stock price soaring.
US and European equities have repeatedly set record highs in recent months on expectations of rate cuts and strong earnings by tech companies, especially those working in artificial intelligence.
In our view, this is the market event to watch this week, said Anthony Saglimbene of Ameriprise.
While one company does not usually make or break a market, the growing influence of Nvidia on the overall bullish stock narrative, key tech firms, and wider indexes warrants close attention.
In Hong Kong and mainland China, shares opened lower Wednesday following Wall Street losses. But they were up around an hour later, with the Hang Seng Index adding nearly 1.8%.
The rise came after China’s central bank said Tuesday it was reducing the five-year LPR, used to price mortgages, from 4.2 to 3.95% – the biggest cut since the key rate was revamped in 2019.
Traders appeared to shrug off the move, with some analysts waiting for more substantial measures from Beijing to support China’s flagging economy and struggling property sector.
Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were all lower.
Japanese stocks were also down on Wednesday. Chip-linked shares slipped after Nvidia’s slump ahead of its earnings report.
