Stock market today: Asian stocks weaken after Nvidia's rebound which supports Wall Street

BANGKOK (AP) Asian stocks are mixed after a rebound in Nvidia supported a weakened Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.4% to 39,726.39, supported by strong demand for technology stocks driven by enthusiasm for Nvidia and artificial intelligence.

Tokyo Electron gained 3.2% and Advantest Corp. climbed 6.6%. Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. added 1.3%.

The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.2% to 2,781.15.

Chinese stocks were lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged down 0.1% to 18,052.55 and the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.5% to 2,936.71.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.9% to 7,765.40.

Stocks rose in Taiwan and India and edged higher in Thailand.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index rose 0.4% and moved closer to its all-time high set a week earlier, closing at 5,469.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which does not include Nvidia, fell 0.8% to 39,112.16, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3% to 17,717.65.

Most stocks, outside of the Wall Street frenzy over artificial intelligence technology, fell. Nvidia climbed 6.8%, and without that gain, the S&P 500 would have fallen for the day. Shares of the chip company snapped a three-day losing streak in which they had fallen nearly 13% for their worst run since 2022.

Nvidia has the power to move the S&P 500 as it has become one of the largest and most influential companies on Wall Street.

Voracious demand for its chips to power artificial intelligence applications has been a key reason U.S. stock markets have hit record highs recently, even as economic growth slows under the weight of interest rates students. But the AI ​​boom has been so frenzied that it has sparked concerns about a possible stock market bubble and unrealistically high expectations from investors.

SolarEdge Technologies fell 20.6% after saying a customer owed it $11.4 million filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, raising questions about how much the solar company can collect and when. Smaller companies in the Russell 2000 index also fell 0.4%.

Generally speaking, sales at retailers across the country have been up and down recently, with companies highlighting how low-income customers are struggling to keep up with ever-rising prices. The job market, however, still appears generally strong. A report released Tuesday also showed that U.S. consumer confidence fell this month, but not as much as economists had hoped.

Higher-income households appear to be doing better and are booking trips on cruise ships. Carnival rose 8.7% after raising its profit forecast for 2024. The cruise line said bookings for the rest of the year were the best on record in terms of price and occupancy. And bookings for next year could turn out to be even better.

Overall, the S&P 500 rose 21.43 points to 5,469.30. The Dow Jones fell 299.05 to 39,112.16 and the Nasdaq composite jumped 220.84 to 17,717.65.

It is down from a peak of 4.70% in late April, which eased pressure on the stock market. Yields have fallen on hopes that inflation will slow enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate later this year.

The Fed is keeping the federal funds rate at the highest level in more than 20 years, hoping to rein in the economy just enough to keep inflation in check. The hope on Wall Street is that the Fed will cut interest rates at exactly the right time. If we wait too long, the economic slowdown could degenerate into a recession. If it is too early, inflation could reaccelerate.

In other trading Wednesday morning, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 29 cents to $81.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 31 cents to $85.32 a barrel.

The dollar fell from 159.63 Japanese yen to 159.79 Japanese yen. The euro was almost unchanged at $1.0715.

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AP Business Editor Stan Choe contributed.