Asian stocks clocked mild gains on Thursday, aided by some strength in chipmaking and technology stocks, while Chinese shares fell as a high-level U.S.-China summit kicked off in Beijing.
Regional markets took positive cues from Wall Street, which closed at record highs overnight on strength in tech and chip shares. Investors mostly looked past concerns over the Iran war and its inflationary impact.
S&P 500 Futures rose 0.1% in Asian trade.
Chinese shares fall from multi-year peaks; Trump-Xi summit kicks off in Beijing
Chinese shares lagged their regional peers on Thursday, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes losing 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively. The indexes hit a 4-½ year and a 11-year high, respectively, earlier this week, and faced some profit-taking.
Chinese shares had risen sharply ahead of a widely anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The two are set to discuss a host of major issues, including trade tariffs, Taiwan, and artificial intelligence. Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday with a cadre of major business leaders, raising hopes for improving ties between the world’s largest economies.
Asia stocks buoyed by tech, but gains limited
Broader Asian markets clocked small gains on support from technology stocks, although a rally in the sector now appeared to have run its course.
South Korea’s KOSPI, a major outperformer in recent weeks, rose 0.2%, as did Japan’s Nikkei 225 index.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7%, aided chiefly by a 5% rally in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (HK:9988) after the internet giant said it will spend more on artificial intelligence in the next three years, helping investors look past dismal fourth-quarter earnings.
Still, the earnings did show some early returns on Alibaba’s AI spending.
Other bourses fell. Australia’s ASX 200 shed 0.1%, extending losses into a fifth consecutive session amid growing concerns over an economic and inflationary shock from the Iran war.
Singapore’s Straits Times index fell 0.2%, while futures for India’s Nifty 50 index fell 0.2%.
Markets still remained on edge over oil supply disruptions stemming from the Iran war, especially as crude prices remained high. U.S. inflation data released earlier this week also highlighted the inflationary pressures from the Iran war.
Source: Investing