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Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday, breaking ranks with Wall Street which declined sharply after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that the ongoing trade tensions could challenge the central bank’s goals of controlling inflation and spurring growth.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 0.48% in early trade, while the broader Topix index added 0.25%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index was up 0.54% while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 1.05%, after the central bank held interest rates at 2.75%, as expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.27% in early trade.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 21,008 pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s last close of 21,056.98.
U.S. futures were little changed given investors’ concerns that a global trade would adversely impact economic growth in the country.
Overnight stateside, stocks fell sharply after Powell warned that the trade tensions could impact the Fed’s inflation and employment goals. The sell-off in Wall Street was also triggered by a 6.9% plunge in the artificial intelligence darling Nvidia’s shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 699.57 points, or 1.73%, closing at 39,669.39. The S&P 500 dropped 2.24% to end at 5,275.70, led down by the information technology sector. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 3.07% to close at 16,307.16. The tech-heavy index ended the day about 19% off its closing high, sliding closer to bear market territory.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh, Alex Harring and Lisa Kailan Han contributed to this report.