BANGKOK (AP) Asian stocks mixed after rebound for 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 fell. 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 rock the S&P 500 as it has become one of the The biggest and most influential companies on Wall Street.
Voracious demand for his chips powering artificial intelligence applications has been a big reason as U.S. stock markets have recently hit record highs, even as the economy grows slows down under the weight high interest rates. But the AI boom has been so frenzied that it has raised concerns about a potential stock market bubble and raised expectations among 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 to retailers across the country have experienced ups and downs recently as companies highlight how low-income customers are struggling to cope with ever-rising prices. THE the job market, however, still looks solid. 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.
The yield has mostly fallen since surpassing 4.70% in late April, easing pressure on the stock market. Yields have fallen on hopes that inflation will slow enough to convince the Federal Reserve to lowered 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 inflation under control. The hope on Wall Street is that the Fed will cut interest rates at exactly the right time. If it waits too long, the slowdown in the economy could turn into a recession. If it is too early, inflation could accelerate again.
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.
AP Business Editor Stan Choe contributed.
