Investing.com - Asian-Pacific stock markets opened on a low note on Wednesday, echoing the downward trend of Wall Street, which was triggered by a slump in technology stocks.
By 12:40 am AEDT (2:40 am GMT) the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%, the Nikkei 225 eased 0.1% and the KOSPI 200 dipped 0.3%.
U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors keenly anticipate the earnings results from AI titan NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), scheduled for release on Wednesday. Investors are also on the lookout for insights from Federal Reserve officials regarding interest rates, following last week's inflation data release.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down by 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite closed 0.6% and 0.9% lower respectively.
In commodity markets, Brent crude oil saw a 1.3% drop to US$82.51 a barrel, while gold experienced a 0.4% increase to US$2,024.46. In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 3.83%, while the 10 Year yield was up at 4.18%. U.S. Treasury notes also dropped, with the 2 Year yield at 4.61% and the 10 Year yield at 4.28%.
In Asia, Chinese shares made a comeback, closing 0.4% higher. This shift came after the People's Bank of China cut a key lending rate by 25bp. Hong Kong shares also ended higher, led by tech and property stocks, closing 0.6% higher. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks ended slightly lower, with the Nikkei Stock Average falling 0.3% to 38363.61. Indian shares also extended gains, as the Sensex rose 0.5% to 73057.40.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down 0.1% at 491.90, affected by falls in U.S. equities as traders awaited Wednesday's release of U.S. Federal Reserve minutes. The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,719.21. U.S. stocks ended lower as investors awaited earnings results from Nvidia, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down.