HONG KONG (AP) — Stock markets across Asia turned in a mixed performance Wednesday, coming on the heels of a broad selloff that hammered technology shares from Asian exchanges to Wall Street.
U.S. stock futures were also trading unevenly as global investors kept a close eye on market activity in Japan and South Korea. Both countries had posted substantial gains in recent months fueled by worldwide enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, but each saw steep declines on Tuesday.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index climbed 0.5% to 8,241.23, partially bouncing back after a 10% drop the day before. Memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix, one of the most valuable companies in the country, saw its shares slide 3.6%. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics gained 3.7% after plunging 12.3% on Tuesday.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.1% to 68,991.77, following Tuesday’s 3.6% decline.
Taiwan’s Taiex, which is heavily weighted toward technology companies, fell 2.5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up 0.1% to 23,364.72. China’s Shanghai Composite index dipped 0.3% to 4,096.14, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1% to 8,797.00.
The losses across Asian markets followed Tuesday’s 1.4% decline in Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily concentrated in technology stocks, fell 2.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.1% lower.
In the U.S. on Tuesday, tech and semiconductor stocks were hit hard. Micron Technology tumbled 13.2%, while Nvidia shed more than 4.1%.
James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, described the sharp drops in tech shares as an “illustration of rising volatility” in those stocks. “This is particularly true in Korea where domestic retail buyers are taking on an increasing role,” he added.
Oil prices also declined early Wednesday, as more vessels traveled through the Strait of Hormuz while talks between the U.S. and Iran on ending the Iran war showed signs of progress.
ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a commentary that “price movements suggest the market expects a fairly rapid recovery in Persian Gulf oil supplies.”
However, they noted that while ship traffic through the strait had picked up in recent days, it remained well below the levels seen before the war started.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.7% to $76.30 per barrel. It has been trading under $80 recently but remains elevated compared to the roughly $70 per barrel seen in late February before the war began. U.S. benchmark crude was also down 0.7%, settling at $72.70 a barrel.
Back in the United States, investors are waiting on a report due out Thursday covering May’s personal consumption expenditures price index — known as the PCE — which serves as the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.
Some economists believe the Fed may keep its key interest rate steady this year and is unlikely to raise rates. Bond yields have stayed elevated as inflation concerns have grown in the wake of global energy disruptions.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was unchanged at 161.55 Japanese yen, and the euro was trading at $1.1364, down slightly from $1.1382.
