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Asia-Pacific markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, following Wall Street’s decline as concerns over artificial intelligence valuations continued to weigh on tech stocks.
Japanese benchmark Nikkei Stock Average The index ended 0.34% lower at 48,537.7 and TOPIX 0.17% lower at 3,245.58.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose about 2 basis points to 1.759%, the highest level since 2007. The yield on the 20-year Treasury note rose about 3 basis points to 2.811%, the highest level since 1999, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury note rose nearly 4 basis points to 3.334%, hovering near its highest level on record.
The Nikkei Stock Average fell by more than 4% led by semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest, but the Nikkei Stock Average fell sharply in early trading due to the impact of the high-tech sector, and then closed 0.57% lower after deducting losses. Semiconductor company Renesas closed 3.02% lower.
South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.61% to 3,929.51, and the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.84% to 871.32. Leading companies in the index, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, widened their decline and ended down 1.33% and 1.4%, respectively.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 index fell 0.25% to 8,447.9.
hong kong Hang Seng Index fell by 0.33%, while the mainland’s CSI300 rose by 0.44%. Hong Kong listed stocks xiaomi Shares fell more than 4% on Tuesday after the Chinese tech company warned of higher smartphone prices in 2026 on the back of rising costs for memory chips to meet soaring demand for AI.
India’s Nifty 50 index and Sensex index reversed, rising by 0.43% and 0.45%, respectively.
U.S. stock futures were little changed in early Asian hours after major indexes fell on Tuesday.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 498.50 points, or 1.07%, to settle at 46,091.74. The S&P 500 fell 0.83% to close at 6,617.32. The index suffered its fourth consecutive loss, the longest decline since August. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.21% to end at 22,432.85.
In this session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell for the fourth day in a row, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index recorded its fifth negative day of six trading sessions.
Bitcoin briefly fell below $90,000, showing signs that investors are taking less risk.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
