Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.1% to 39,054.81, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5% to 7,807.10, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2% to 2,728.43, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.3% to 18,942.77, while the Shanghai Composite declined 1.0% to3,126.70
Asian shares were trading mixed Thursday, as investor sentiment in Tokyo was boosted by news of surging Nvidia earnings.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.1% to 39,054.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5% to 7,807.10. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2% to 2,728.43. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.3% to 18,942.77, while the Shanghai Composite declined 1.0% to3,126.70.
Semiconductor related issues were boosted by news that Nvidia’s profit surpassed forecasts, with quarterly net income jumping more than sevenfold from a year earlier to $14.88 billion. Revenue more than tripled for what’s become the iconic brand behind the recent AI boom.
On Wall Street, indexes pulled back from their records as worries about high interest rates weighed on the market.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.3% to 5,307.01, a day after hitting its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dipped 0.5% to 39,671.04, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.2% to 16,801.54 after setting its latest record.
Indexes were close to flat early in the day, but slipped after the Fed released the minutes of its last policy meeting. That showed Fed officials suggesting it “would likely take longer than previously thought” to get inflation fully under control after disappointingly high figures early this year.
And even though Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after that meeting that the Fed is more likely to cut rates than to raise them, the minutes said “various participants” were willing to raise rates if inflation worsens. That cut rekindled hopes on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut its main interest rate at least once this year.