TOKYO – Asian markets mostly moved lower Tuesday as investors remained cautious. A rebound in artificial intelligence stocks on Wall Street offered some support, but weakness across other sectors and persistently elevated oil prices continued to weigh on sentiment.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6% in morning trading to 64,512.35. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8% to 8,772.10, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.8% to 5,605.31. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined nearly 1% to 23,947.37. China’s Shanghai Composite was nearly flat at 3,732.29.
Market participants are also looking ahead to a busy round of corporate earnings reports from major companies, which could provide fresh clues about the outlook for businesses and the wider economy.
U.S. stocks finished higher Monday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.4% after suffering its steepest weekly decline since June. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%, helped by technology and AI-related shares. Most other areas of the market fell, however, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1%.
Nvidia rose 1.4% and provided one of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500. As the largest U.S. company by market capitalization, even a relatively modest move in Nvidia shares can have an outsized influence on the broader index.
SpaceX, which oversees the xAI business, advanced 1.3%. Founder Elon Musk has said he plans to give one SpaceX share to “every kid in America” next year.
The S&P 500 added 31.29 points to close at 7,690.73. The Dow fell 36.38 points to 51,966.03, while the Nasdaq surged 290.85 points to 26,430.89.
Borrowing has financed much of the investment in AI chips and data centers, making higher interest rates a potential concern for the industry. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.14% from 5.09% late Friday, reaching its highest level in years.
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Oil prices also remained firm. U.S. benchmark crude gained 0.15% to $103.50 a barrel, while Brent crude, the global benchmark, increased 0.07% to $109.47 a barrel. Continued uncertainty over when the war with Iran will permit the energy sector to resume normal operations is keeping expectations for a near-term decline in prices in check.
In foreign exchange trading, the dollar eased slightly to 158.45 Japanese yen from 158.46 yen. The euro was valued at $1.1225, little changed from $1.1227.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
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