Asian Stocks Fall Following Wall Street’s Modest Rise

Asian stock markets mostly experienced declines on Thursday, trailing the varied performance of U.S. stock indexes, where the S&P 500 concluded just slightly up. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 managed to climb by 0.2% to a level of 38,198.96.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by 0.8% to 23,618.74, with the Shanghai Composite index decreasing by 0.5% to 3,364.05. Tech stocks, which had previously seen gains earlier in the week, were the primary contributors to the downturn.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 500 saw a modest rise of 0.3%, reaching 8,268.60, whereas South Korea’s Kospi index fell by 0.9% to 2,618.77. In other parts of the region, Taiwan’s market slipped by 0.8%, and Thailand’s SET index showed just under a 0.1% gain.

In the United States, stock averages displayed a mixed close on Wednesday. The S&P 500 achieved a 0.8% increase to 5,956.06, interrupting a four-day downward streak which had led the index away from its peak levels. Conversely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 0.4% to 43,433.12, while the Nasdaq composite inched up by 0.3% to 19,075.26.

Challenges in the market stem from reports indicating weaker-than-expected economic performance, alongside growing concerns from U.S. consumers about inflation and the impact of heightened tariffs. These factors have been particularly detrimental to major technology and high-growth stocks, which previously seemed unstoppable.

Among notable stocks, Super Micro Computer experienced a significant downturn, losing nearly 25% of its value over four days amidst the AI technology craze. However, it rebounded with a 12.2% surge on Wednesday following the filing of its annual fiscal report ending June.

Market fixation remains on Nvidia, a leading chip manufacturer at the forefront of AI technology. Nvidia’s stocks rose by 3.7% before the release of its profit report, illustrating increased fourth-quarter profits and sales due to the demand for its specialized chips that enable AI systems.

The latest earnings report for Nvidia and its CEO, Jensen Huang, follows developments from a new Chinese competitor, DeepSeek, which claims to have created an advanced language model rivaling U.S. counterparts without using the costliest chips. This development prompted questions about the anticipated investments, which were initially expected to benefit Nvidia’s ecosystem.

Despite this, several major tech firms revealed plans to continue their extensive investments in AI, providing a positive signal for the sector. Later on Thursday, further economic insight will be provided by the U.S. Commerce Department’s final report on the country’s performance during the last quarter of 2024. Although the economy seems stable with continued growth, there is rising apprehension about future prospects. A subsequent report on Friday will detail the preferred Federal Reserve measure of inflation.

There is escalating concern about potential reductions in U.S. consumer expenditure, a crucial element for economic growth, intensified by persistent inflation and uncertain future forecasts.

In commodity dealings early Thursday, the U.S. benchmark for crude oil increased by 19 cents to $68.81 per barrel in electronic transactions on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which serves as the international standard, rose by 22 cents to $72.29 per barrel.

In currency exchanges, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, rising to 149.34 yen from 149.10 yen, while the euro slightly dipped to $1.0475 from $1.0483.