HONG KONG (AP) - Asian shares exhibited mixed performances on Wednesday as Wall Street experienced a downturn, primarily driven by a sell-off in technology stocks. Concurrently, gold and silver prices saw a rebound following a recent decline, prompting investors to turn towards these safe-haven assets.
In the U.S. market, futures showed slight gains, and oil prices also advanced. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell by 0.6%, settling at 54,391.58. Despite the drop, it remained higher compared to the beginning of the week. Notably, shares of chipmaker Tokyo Electron saw a decrease of 2%, while testing equipment manufacturer Advantest lost 1.6%. On the other hand, SoftBank Group managed a slight increase of 0.2%.
In a surprising turn, shares of Nintendo plunged over 10% despite the company reporting strong profits on Tuesday. Analysts and investors raised concerns about the sustainability of sales momentum for the Switch 2 game console, which was launched last year.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi index climbed 0.9% to 5,336.01, despite some weakness in technology stocks where Samsung Electronics fell by 0.2%, and chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 1.4%. This index has been reaching new highs almost daily.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng decreased by 0.4% to 26,724.94, while the Shanghai Composite index remained flat at 4,067.39. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up by 0.9%, trading at 8,934.20, and Taiwan's Taiex reported a 0.3% increase.
As for commodities, gold and silver prices rose sharply on Wednesday as investors shifted their focus toward these traditional safe-haven assets amid geopolitical tensions and uncertainties related to tariffs. Gold prices increased by 3.8%, while silver prices surged by 5.1%. This rebound followed a dramatic sell-off, where gold prices plummeted to below $4,500 on Monday from nearly $5,600 a week prior, and silver had experienced a significant decline of over 31% on Friday.
Analysts from ING Bank perceive this renewed interest in precious metals after recent volatility as a sign that despite the correction, the underlying macroeconomic factors supporting gold remain intact. They expect safe-haven demand to be a critical factor supporting gold prices in the medium term.
On the Wall Street front, the S&P 500 index declined by 0.8% to 6,917.81, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.3% to 49,240.99. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.4%, closing at 23,255.19. Leading tech companies experienced notable losses, with Nvidia, one of the world's most valuable firms, declining by 2.8%, and Microsoft’s shares fell by 2.9%. Investors are increasingly concerned about potential overvaluation in tech stocks and whether the substantial investments in artificial intelligence will yield favorable returns.
In other market developments, PayPal shares tumbled by 20.3% after reporting weaker-than-expected quarterly results, while Pfizer experienced a dip of 3.3%, despite exceeding profit expectations for the quarter. Early Wednesday trading saw U.S. benchmark crude oil rise by 59 cents to $63.80 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, increased by 53 cents to $67.86 per barrel. Oil prices gained momentum due to renewed tensions between the U.S. and Iran, following an incident where a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone near a U.S. aircraft carrier, according to analysts at ING Bank.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, rising to 156.29 from the previous 155.77. The euro was trading at $1.1833, up from $1.1818 earlier.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press
