Asia-Pacific markets fall sharply on Thursday, continuing the global trend of investor caution. Wall Street investors rotated out of technology stocks, leading to declines in AI-related stocks. Oracle’s primary investor, Blue Owl Capital, reportedly withdrew funding from one of its data center projects. Consequently, Oracle shares dropped by 5.4%. Similarly, other tech stocks tied to AI, like Broadcom, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices, also saw declines. Investors grew more concerned about the future growth of AI-related projects.
In Asia, the Bank of Japan began its two-day meeting, and expectations are high. The central bank is expected to raise rates to 0.75%, the highest in 30 years. This anticipation of tighter monetary policy added pressure to regional markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 1.03%, closing at 49,001.5, leading the losses in Asia. The Topix also dropped by 0.37% to 3,356.89. Softbank Group Corp took a significant hit, falling as much as 7.25%, before recovering somewhat and trading 3% lower. Other Japanese tech stocks also suffered. Advantest dropped 5%, while Lasertec, Renesas Electronics, and Tokyo Electron lost between 3% and 4%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index fell by 1.53%, closing at 3,994.51. Meanwhile, the Kosdaq, which tracks smaller companies, dropped 1.07% to 901.33. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed flat at 8,588.2. However, Woodside Energy shares declined by 1.84% after CEO Meg O’Neill resigned to become the CEO of BP.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by 0.76%, while the CSI 300, which tracks Chinese stocks, lost 0.59%, closing at 4,552.79. Moreover, in China, shares of MetaX Integrated Circuits, a newly debuted chipmaker, saw a decline of 7% after its initial public offering raised nearly $600 million.
Overnight in the United States, all three major stock indices closed lower. The S&P 500 dropped by 1.16%. The Nasdaq Composite saw the largest loss, falling 1.81%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.47%. Traders are now eagerly awaiting the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report for November. This report is expected later Thursday and will be the first consumer inflation report since the end of the government shutdown last month. Economists predict headline inflation grew by 3.1% year-over-year.
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