Asia-Pacific markets predominantly experienced an uptick on Wednesday, diverging from US Market’s trajectory following a decline in U.S. technology stocks that impacted overall sentiment. Concurrently, gold continued its upward trend for a second consecutive day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced a decline of 0.78%, closing at 54,293.36, primarily influenced by the performance of technology stocks. The Topix increased by 0.27%, reaching a level of 3,655.58. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 experienced a turnaround, increasing by 0.8% to reach 8,927.8. South Korea’s Kospi increased by 1.57% to 5,371.1, whereas the small-cap Kosdaq rose by 0.45% to 1,149.43. Nintendo’s stock experienced a decline exceeding 10%, even as the company upheld its full-year sales projections for the Switch 2 console. This downturn reflects investor concerns regarding various potential challenges facing the gaming behemoth, notably the threat posed by an extraordinary increase in memory prices, which are crucial for its consoles.
The Hong Kong Hang Seng index remained unchanged at 26,847.32, whereas the mainland CSI 300 experienced an increase of 0.83%, reaching 4,698.68. Concerns on US Market regarding the potential disruption caused by artificial intelligence in the software sector have extended to Asia, leading to a decline in tech stocks in the region that mirrors the overnight losses experienced by their U.S. counterparts. Japanese software firms in Asia spearheaded the downturns in the region. TIS, a prominent Japanese information technology services provider and systems integrator, experienced a decline exceeding 15%. Trend Micro and NS Solutions experienced declines exceeding 7%. Spot gold prices increased by over 2% to $5,060.72 per ounce, whereas spot silver rose by nearly 5% to $89.37 per ounce.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 experienced a pullback as investors shifted away from technology stocks, reallocating their capital into shares that are more closely associated with economic improvements. The broad market index experienced a decline of 0.84%, concluding the session at 6,917.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 166.67 points, representing a decrease of 0.34%, closing at 49,240.99. Previously, the 30-stock index increased by as much as 0.5%, reaching a new record of 49,653.13. The Nasdaq Composite experienced a decline of 1.43%, concluding the session at 23,255.19.
Most technology shares concluded the trading session in negative territory, with a significant portion of the “Magnificent Seven” companies that have disclosed their earnings thus far experiencing declines. Microsoft and Meta Platforms saw reductions exceeding 2%, whereas Apple finished the day with a slight decrease. Nvidia experienced a decline, as the artificial intelligence bellwether’s nearly 3% drop contributed to its year-to-date losses. Meanwhile, software stocks continued their 2026 decline, with shares of ServiceNow and Salesforce decreasing by nearly 7% each.