People watch the first sunrise of the new year from a footbridge overlooking the city skyline in Seoul on January 1, 2024.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Thursday, after investors continued selling tech names on Wall Street like Nvidia and Oracle for a second straight day.
Nvidia slid almost 1%, continuing its declines from Tuesday as heightened fears about the potentially circular nature of the AI industry drew investor skepticism.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 started the trading session close to the flatline, while the broad based Topix gained 0.58%.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.28%, and the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.27%. South Korean defense stocks continued to rise, with major players like Hanwha Aerospace up 2.46%, and Poongsan 3.28% higher.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.23% in early trade.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 26,394, lower than the HSI’s last close of 26,518.65. Investors in Hong Kong will be watching Chinese automaker Chery Automobile’s listing later today, although the ceremony will reportedly be canceled due to Super Typhoon Ragasa.
U.S. stock futures were little changed as investors awaited Thursday’s release of weekly jobless claims data, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy moves amid increasing concerns about a weakening labor market and rising layoffs.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 dropped 0.28% to end at 6,637.97, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.34% to settle at 22,497.86.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.37%, to finish at 46,121.28.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.