(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, following a decline in U.S. stocks as investors weighed whether the rise in artificial intelligence that has driven the recent bull market still has room to continue.
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Stock benchmarks in Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul all fell. Mainland stocks fell as much as 1.3%, taking their losses of more than 10% since their October 8 high as optimism that support from the Chinese government would help revive the struggling economy faded. S&P 500 futures were little changed, while U.S. Treasuries were also solid in Asia.
Asian semiconductor stocks including SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell on Wednesday, highlighting broader weakness in the semiconductor sector. The move partly reflects a drop in stock prices after Dutch giant ASML Holding NV lowered its 2025 outlook on Tuesday. In the U.S., Nvidia Inc. fell 4.7%, signaling a slowdown at some of the industry’s biggest companies.
“The withdrawal of European high-tech industries, which spills over into Wall Street, will inevitably weigh on Asia,” said Vishnu Varasan, head of economics and strategic Asia at Mizuho Bank in Singapore. “Optimism about China’s economic stimulus appears to be on the wane, with the market increasingly taking profit-taking rather than bullish positions on Chinese stocks.”
China’s housing minister is scheduled to hold a press conference on Thursday, where he is likely to reveal details of measures to support the real estate sector and boost economic growth. Minister Nghi becomes the latest economic official to speak publicly about the government’s pivot to stabilizing growth.
In the US, the S&P 500 fell to about 5,815 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 1.4%. The dollar strengthened after rising to its highest level in nearly two months after former President Donald Trump defended his proposal to significantly increase tariffs on foreign imports. Separately, Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic said he expects the U.S. economy to slow this year but will remain strong, and that there may be some bumps in the downward trajectory of inflation. added.
Turning to Asia, New Zealand’s dollar and sovereign bond yields fell after annual inflation fell sharply in the third quarter, returning them to the central bank’s target range for the first time in more than three years.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia’s three largest economies will announce their monetary policy decisions later on Wednesday. Indonesia and Thailand are expected to keep interest rates unchanged, while the Philippines is expected to cut rates.
story continues
oil gain
Oil rose after falling more than 4% on Tuesday after Israel said it would independently decide how to attack Iran, leaving open the possibility that energy infrastructure could be targeted.
Oil prices have been on a roller coaster this month, with prices fluctuating due to tensions in the Middle East and China’s efforts to revive growth in its biggest importer. The International Energy Agency has warned of the prospect of a global oversupply, and traders are also considering the outlook for the market next year.
“It seems like dealers these days are just tying machines to oil futures,” said Christoph Rieger, head of rates and credit research at Commerzbank. “Whether it makes sense to adjust the long-term inflation outlook in light of this is another question.”
This week’s main events:
Morgan Stanley earnings results Wednesday
ECB interest rate decision, Thursday
U.S. retail sales, unemployment claims, industrial production, Thursday
Fed’s Austan Goolsby speaks on Thursday
China GDP, Friday
U.S. housing starts Friday
Fed’s Christopher Waller and Neel Kashkari speak on Friday
The main movements in the market are:
stock
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:46 a.m. Tokyo time.
Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 1.7%
Japan’s TOPIX fell 0.9%
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 falls 0.2%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5%
Shanghai Composite: Almost no change
Euro Stoxx50 futures fall 0.5%
currency
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed
The euro was almost unchanged at $1.0890.
The Japanese yen remained almost unchanged at 149.06 yen to the dollar.
The offshore yuan remained almost unchanged at 7.1290 yuan to the dollar.
The Australian dollar fell 0.2% to $0.6688.
cryptocurrency
Bitcoin rises 1% to $67,172.85
Ether rose 1.6% to $2,612.92
bond
The 10-year government bond yield was almost unchanged at 4.03%.
Japan’s 10-year bond yield fell 2 basis points to 0.950%.
Australian 10-year bond yields fell 6 basis points to 4.20%.
merchandise
This article was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Automation.
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