Tokyo — Asian stocks were mixed after Wall Street fell on Thursday, as the recent selloff that has hit global markets has left investors nervous.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 recovered earlier losses to fall 0.5% to 34,915.47 in afternoon trading. Australia’s S&The ASX 200 fell 0.4% to 7,673.10. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7% to 2,551.36.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% to 17,018.62. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 2,877.28.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.9%, while computer chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 2.5%, adding to losses in the technology sector on Wall Street and elsewhere.
Some semiconductor equipment manufacturers and related companies reported additional losses. Advantest Corp. fell 3.2% and Disco Corp. fell 4%. However, shares of Lasertec Corp. rose 22.6% after reporting a 28% increase in net income for the fiscal year ended June 30.
S&The P 500 and Dow futures were little changed.
Wall Street tumbled on Wednesday, but the decline wasn’t as severe as the frenzied moves that rocked markets around the world earlier in the week. European markets posted strong gains.
Japanese officials moved to calm concerns about a possible rate hike on Wednesday, after the Nikkei posted its biggest plunge since 1987 on Monday and a key rate hike triggered a selloff.
The Japanese yen was relatively stable after a sharp rise against the greenback on Friday and Monday that prompted investors to sell stocks. The greenback fell to 146.24 yen from 146.72 yen. The euro rose to 1.0935 yen from 1.0927 yen.
Investors are also paying close attention to earnings reports released around the world.
Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. both reported relatively positive financial results this week. Honda’s shares rose more than 1%, while Sony lost early gains and fell 0.7%.
S on Wednesday&The S&P 500 rose 1.7% before falling 0.8% to 5,199.50. The Dow fell 0.6% to 38,763.45. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1% to 16,195.81.
The yield on the two-year Treasury note was steady at 3.99% on Wednesday, around the same level as late Tuesday.
Nvidia, one of Wall Street’s most influential companies, was the index’s biggest weighting, down 5.1% from its morning gain of 4.4%. Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks are struggling amid concerns that their prices have skyrocketed amid Wall Street’s artificial intelligence frenzy.
Helping to limit losses on Wall Street was Apple, up 1.2%, recovering some of its losses from earlier in the week after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed it was reducing its stake in the iPhone maker.
Strong earnings are supporting markets amid growing concerns about the future direction of the U.S. economy following relatively weak jobs data.
Strong earnings reports from America’s biggest companies continue, and growth continues for companies in the S category.&The S&P 500 index could hit its highest level since 2021, according to FactSet.
Wall Street expects the Fed to cut rates by the traditional 0.25 percentage point or even a more severe 0.5 percentage point at its next meeting, scheduled for next month.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 17 cents to $75.40 a barrel. International standard Brent crude rose 6 cents to $78.39 a barrel.
