Most Asian stocks crept lower on Thursday as investors appeared to have looked past positive earnings from artificial intelligence major Nvidia, while Hong Kong shares fell from a three-year peak.
Regional technology shares retreated, tracking aftermarket declines in Nvidia. While the company did clock strong earnings and present an upbeat guidance, its shares fell as much as 2% in aftermarket trade, amid a growing storm of external uncertainties over its medium-to-long-term prospects.
Broader Asian markets took middling cues from a flat overnight close on Wall Street, which saw little relief from a raft of recent declines. Sentiment was mixed amid threats of more trade tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump and reports of progress in a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
U.S. stock index futures fell slightly in Asian trade. Investors are now awaiting a slew of key U.S. economic readings, including GDP and PCE price index data, both due in the coming days.
Asian tech falls as Nvidia earnings spark little cheer
Tech-heavy Asian bourses moved in a flat-to-low range on Thursday, with South Korea’s KOSPI losing 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell as much as 2% in aftermarket trade, even as its fourth-quarter earnings, guidance, and management commentary presented no clear negative signals.
Analysts said that the company, while healthy, was facing a storm of external, negative factors. Summit Insights downgraded the stock to Hold, stating that the stock no longer presented a favorable risk-reward scenario.
Summit also said that shifting trends in the AI industry- towards inference from training, and towards more efficient models- were likely to dent Nvidia’s medium-to-long-term prospects. The second point in particular was echoed by several analysts over the past month, especially following the release of China’s DeepSeek AI.
Nvidia's Asian suppliers including TSMC (TW:2330), SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660), and Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), fell between 0.4% and 4% on Thursday.
Hong Kong falls from 3-yr peak; China dips
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.6% after hitting a three-year high earlier in the session. This came amid some profit-taking in local markets, following a stellar, AI fueled rally over the past month.
Sentiment towards China was also dulled by persistent threats of U.S. trade restrictions and tariffs, after Trump last week signed a sweeping order outlining more measures against Beijing.
Mainland Chinese stocks also retreated, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes losing 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Among broader Asian markets, Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.4%, as positive earnings from Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) and Coles Group (OTC:CLEGF) Ltd (ASX:COL) helped markets look past weak fourth quarter capital expenditure data.
Japan’s TOPIX rose 0.5%, even as retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:3382) slid over 10% after the collapse of a privatization deal led by the company’s founding Ito family.
Singapore’s Straits Times index was flat, while futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a flat open, as local stocks nursed an extended rout.
Source: Investing